Chelsea join the race to sign Barcelona’s Arda Turan

Turan
Turan

Barcelona’s technical secretary Robert Fernandez has made it clear that the Catalan giants will be busy in the transfer window this summer. The club already have signed French defender Samuel Umtiti and there could be more arrivals in the coming days as well.

At the same time, Barcelona’s parlous financial conditions mean they need to sell a few first team players to balance the book. And one of them could be Turkish midfielder Arda Turan.

The 29-year-old attacking midfielder joined Barcelona last summer but couldn’t make his debut until January 2016 due to the transfer embargo imposed on the club.

His future has come under speculation in recent weeks and several top European clubs have shown an interest in him, including the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

Chelsea wanted to sign Turan last summer and had a bid rejected for him as well. Turan wanted to play alongside Lionel Messi and decided to join Barcelona instead.

He won the La Liga with Barcelona in 2015/16 but personally didn’t enjoy a great campaign. He is not the first choice at the club and it is really difficult for him to dislodge either of Messi, Suarez and Neymar from the starting XI but what has been largely frustrating in his case is he has failed to make an impact even from the bench.

Spanish newspaper AS reported yesterday that Arsenal are one of the few top clubs interested in signing the 29-year-old attacking midfielder. The Catalan giants would be demanding a fee around €30m for Turan.

Catalan newspaper Sport has followed up the story and they claim Chelsea are interested in signing the Turkish midfielder again and the Blues would be ready to spend big for his signature.

Turan will join the pre-season training shortly and will hold a discussion with Luis Enrique over his future. He doesn’t want to leave Barcelona, rather wants to fight his way back into the first team. However, the scenario can change quickly if Barcelona receive a good offer for Turan.

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