Argentine striker Sergio Araujo "returned home" to AEK Athens, as he emphasized this week, after a transfer was concluded between Segunda Division's Las Palmas and the popular Greek side.
Araujo on Thursday signed a 3+1 year contract that cost AEK nearly 1.5 million euros, with 20 percent of the sum going to Argentine powerhouse Boca Juniors, which held a stake in the Argentine's resale.
The 29-year-old striker was presented on Friday morning at AEK's offices, in the presence of club owner Dimitris Melissanidis. He had played for AEK Athens on three previous occasions, including during the team's championship season in 2017-18, but always on loan from Las Palmas.
He returned to the yellow-and-black team 12 months after his last stint, and ahead what's expected to be next year's completion of AEK's new state-of-the-art stadium in the northwest Athens district of Nea Philadelphia, on the exact spot where the team's previous pitch stood for nearly eight decades.
A favorite of AEK's fans, Araujo has played in 79 matches for the team, whose emblem is the double-headed eagle associated with the Byzantine Empire, and scored 26 goals in all competitions.
In another transfer news related to AEK, Romanian international defender Ionuț Nedelcearu was sold by the Greek team to Serie B side FC Crotone on Friday, for a fee of 1.2 million euros.
Nedelcearu played one season for the Athens club. He arrived in Italy on Friday to sign his contract with the Calabrian team.
PK/hkt
