Barcelona have reportedly decided to offload midfielder Arda Turan and have offered the Turkish player to Serie A champions Juventus.
Football Italia have reported that the Liga BBVA champions have offered their Turkish attacking midfielder Arda Turan to Juventus in an attempt to offload the player. Turan had earlier been linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund but that didn’t go through. The Bundesliga runners-up ended up signing young sensation Ousmane Dembele from France.
The 29-year-old has been rumoured to be the subject of a €100m bid from a Chinese Super League team but his agent has denied the speculation. Arsenal were earlier reported to have joined the race to sign the Barcelona outcast with former Barcelona and current Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez reportedly urging Arsene Wenger to sign the attacking midfielder.
But the report by Football Italia stated that Barcelona have offered the player to the Old Lady. Marca pointed out that Barcelona have apparently spent more than they could afford. The Blaugranes have blown their cash on expensive transfers of Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes, with the latest one being the most expensive of the lot. The report goes on to state that Barcelona now need to sell and have confirmed earlier reports stating that they are prepared to offload Arda Turan to make space for new signing Andre Gomes.
Arda Turan joined the Liga BBVA champions from Atletico Madrid last year in a €34m deal but has since failed to show the same spark. The Turkish international appeared in 25 competitive games for Barcelona last season, with only 2 goals and four assists to his name.
It is reported that Barcelona are looking for a fee of around €40m for the midfielder but the Bianconeri are unlikely to pay that much for a 29-year-old. Barcelona, though, seem desperate to move the player off the books and could lower their demands in order to make the deal happen.
Juventus could benefit from this as the arrival of Arda Turan would mitigate, to an extent, the loss of quality in midfield with the potential departure of Paul Pogba looming over Turin. On the other hand, Arsenal are still reportedly interested in the midfielder and could be encouraged by this news to launch an attempt to bring Arda Turan to the Emirates.
