Sergio Ezequiel Araujo (born 28 January 1992), nicknamed El Chino, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Paraguayan Primera División club Cerro Porteño.
Club career
Boca Juniors Born in Buenos Aires, Araujo graduated with Boca Juniors' youth setup. He played his first match as a professional on 13 December 2009, coming on as a late substitute for Nicolás Gaitán in a 0–2 home loss against Banfield for the Primera División championship.Un sueño hecho realidad (A dream come true); ESPN Deportes, 13 December 2009
Araujo scored his first professional goal on 21 November 2010, netting the first in a 2–1 home win against Arsenal de Sarandí.Ya sin Borghi, Boca volvió al triunfo frente a Arsenal (Already without Borghi, Boca returned to winning ways against Arsenal); ESPN Deportes, 21 November 2010 However, he was mainly used as a backup to Pablo Mouche and Lucas Viatri, appearing sparingly.
On 25 July 2012, Araujo moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a two-year loan deal with Barcelona and being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División.Barça B close two-year loan deal for Sergio Araujo; Barcelona's official website, 25 July 2012 He made his debut for the club on 17 August, playing the last 36 minutes of the 4–5 home loss against UD Almería.Festival goleador para abrir la Liga Adelante (Goalscoring party to kickstart Liga Adelante); Marca, 17 August 2012
Araujo scored his first goals for Barça B on 1 December, netting a brace in a 2–1 away win against Lugo.Un doblete de Araujo desmonta la muralla lucense (An Araujo's double dismounts the lucense wall); Marca, 1 December 2012 He finished the campaign with seven goals in 34 appearances, but returned to his parent club on 25 June 2013 nonetheless.FC Barcelona will not renew Sergio Araujo's loan deal, player set to return to Boca Juniors; Barcelona's official website, 25 June 2013
On 17 July 2013, Araujo was loaned to Tigre, after being deemed surplus to requirements by manager Carlos Bianchi.Sergio Araujo, cedido a Tigre (Sergio Araujo, loaned to Tigre); Sport, 17 July 2013 He appeared in 19 matches for the club, scoring four goals; he was sent off on 28 September in a 1–0 home win over Colón for an aggression against Maximiliano Caire.
Las Palmas On 19 July 2014, Araujo returned to Spain, joining Las Palmas in a season-long loan deal.La UD acuerda con Boca Juniors la cesión del delantero Araujo (UD agrees with Boca Juniors the loan of forward Araujo) ; Las Palmas' official website, 19 July 2014 He made his debut for the Canarians on 23 August, starting and scoring the last in a 2–0 home win against UE Llagostera.Aráujo brilla con un golazo en el estreno de Las Palmas (Araújo shines with a great goal in Las Palmas' debut); Marca, 23 August 2014 Las Palmas came fourth and made the play-offs, in which Araujo opened a 1–1 draw at Real Valladolid in the first leg of the semi-finals; he missed a penalty in added time in the goalless second as his team advanced on the away goals rule. On 21 June 2015, in the final second leg against Real Zaragoza at the Estadio Gran Canaria, he scored an 84th-minute goal that made it 2–0 on the night, 3–3 on aggregate, thus sending Los Amarillos into La Liga via the same rule.
Araujo appeared in 43 matches and scored 25 goals over the season for the Canary Islands outfit, being the club's top goalscorer and the second overall. Despite strong links to a move to CelticCeltic weigh up summer move for Sergio Araujo; The Scotsman, 17 April 2015 and Real SociedadLa Real Sociedad sigue a Araujo (Real Sociedad tracks Araujo); La Provincia, 18 March 2015 the club managed to buy him outright, with the player signing a five-year deal.El presidente confirma el pago a Boca por Araujo (President confirms the payout to Boca for Araujo); Las Palmas' official website, 24 June 2015
On 22 August 2015, Araujo made his La Liga debut, starting in a 0–1 away loss against Atlético Madrid.Al Atlético le falta (Atlético lacks something); Marca, 22 August 2015 He scored his first goal in the category on 13 September, netting his team's first in a 3–3 draw at Celta de Vigo.Un 10 para Las Palmas (A 10 to Las Palmas); Marca, 13 September 2015
First loan to AEK Athens On 24 January 2017, Araujo joined AEK Athens on loan until the end of the season with an option to extend for a further year. A week later, he scored twice in his debut, a 6–0 home win over Levadiakos for the Greek Cup. On 6 March 2017 he scored his first Super League Greece goal in a 1–1 away draw against rivals Panionios, and six days later he scored two of his team's three goals in the "double-headed eagle" derby against PAOK.
On 13 April 2017, he opened the score in a 2–1 away Greek Cup semifinals first leg win against champions Olympiacos. On 31 May, he scored the second goal of a 2–1 away win against Panionios and his team qualified for the UEFA Champions League. At the end of the season he returned to Las Palmas.
Second loan to AEK Athens On 30 August 2017, Araujo returned to AEK on a season long-loan for a fee of €700,000. He scored nine goals at the domestic competitions during the second part of 2016–17 season. He combined his return with a goal in 4–0 home win against AEL. On 23 November 2017 he scored his first goal in UEFA competitions in a 2–2 home draw against Rijeka. On 14 January he scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against PAS Giannina. On 1 April 2018, Araujo's brace helped AEK to a 3–0 Athens derby win over Panathinaikos. On 5 May 2018, AEK celebrated their first title in 24 years after his goal secured a 1–0 away victory over Apollon Smyrnis at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium.
Las Palmas stated that Araujo would not be sold as his release clause was €60 million.
Third loan to AEK Athens On 31 January 2020, AEK loaned Araujo from Las Palmas for the remainder of the season for a fee of €500,000. However, there is a reported clause in the deal which means that if AEK didn't decide to purchase Araujo on a permanent basis for €2.7 million after the campaign ends, they will have to pay a hefty compensation fee to Las Palmas. On 9 February 2020, Araujo scored his first goal since rejoining AEK, after eight minutes of a 1–0 win over city rivals Panathinaikos at the Olympic Stadium in the Super League Athenian derby.
AEK Athens On 16 July 2021, Araujo signed a three-year deal with AEK, that cost AEK nearly €1.5 million, with 20% of the transfer going to Argentinian club Boca Juniors, which held a stake in the Argentine's resale. Araujo has played in 79 matches for the team, and scored 26 goals in all competitions, as a loanee in the previous years. On 22 September, he scored the only goal against Lamia. On 21 November 2021, he scored a brace but he did not avert a 3–2 home loss against rivals Olympiacos. On 6 February 2022, Araujo scored a brace, celebrating his 100th appearance with the club and named MVP in a 3–0 home win game against Apollon Smyrnis. Sergio Araujo was the captain of AEK Athens until he left at the end of the 2023–2024 season.
Cerro Porteño On 13 September 2024, Araujo signed with Cerro Porteño in Paraguay. The club was allowed to sign him outside of transfer window on an emergency replacement clause, after Tobías Portillo suffered an injury with the Paraguay under-20 national team.
International career In 2009 Araujo represented Argentina at the South American U-17 Championship. He scored three goals in five appearances as side eventually finished second and qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Araujo also appeared in 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria, scoring a 59th-minute winner against Honduras in Argentina's opening game,Honduras 0–1 Argentina; FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 February 2015 as well as a 58th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory against Germany in Argentina's second game.Argentina 2–1 Germany; FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 February 2015 Argentina progressed to the round of 16, where he scored to put them 2–0 ahead of Colombia. However, Colombia would end up winning the game 3–2.Argentina 2–3 Colombia; FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 February 2015
Araujo represented the Argentina U-23 national team at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. He scored in Argentina's opening 1–1 draw with Brazil, but was sent off in the 85th minute.Brasil empata com a Argentina na estreia do futebol (Brasil draws with Argentina in the debut of football); Veja, 19 October 2011 Argentina reached the final, where they lost 1–0 against hosts Mexico.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinental Total DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBoca Juniors2009–10Primera División100000102010–11900000902011–12912130142Total1912130242Barcelona B (loan)2012–13Segunda División34700–347Tigre (loan)2013–14Argentine Primera División23400–234Las Palmas2014–15Segunda División432510–44252015–16La Liga30510–3152016–1711210–1222017–182000–202018–19Segunda División26400–2642019–204020–602020–21291100–2911Total1454750–15047AEK Athens (loan)2016–17Super League Greece15564–219AEK Athens (loan)2017–18Super League Greece231182813914AEK Athens (loan)2019–20Super League Greece15340–193AEK Athens2021–22Super League Greece2712202031122022–2329750–3472023–242112082313AEK total1303927618317548AEK Athens B2023–24Super League Greece 211––11Career total352101347213407109
Honours Cerro Porteño
2025 Clausura
Boca Juniors Primera División: 2011 Apertura
AEK Athens Super League Greece: 2017–18, 2022–23 Greek Cup: 2022–23
Individual Segunda División Player of the Month: 2014 September AEK Athens Player of the Season: 2021–22 Super League Greece Goal of the Season: 2021–22 Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2021–22 Super League Greece Fair Play of the Season: 2021–22
References
External links
Barcelona official profile