Barcelona are reportedly set to keep Arda Turan at Camp Nou in order to drive his price up in the transfer market.
Spanish publication Sport have reported that Barcelona are eager to increase Arda Turan’s market value ahead of offloading him in the summer transfer window. Therefore, the Catalan club is set to retain the Turkish playmaker, at least for the summer.
Turan joined Barcelona from fellow La Liga heavyweights Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2015. The player, though, had to wait till January 2016 to make his long-awaited debut for the Blaugrana due to the transfer ban that had been imposed on the club.
However, Turan’s spell at Barcelona has been not short of a struggle, having arrived at Camp Nou with a burgeoning reputation of being one of the most menacing attacking players in Europe. The Turk has not managed to fit into Barcelona’s system of play, as a result of which he has often failed to be influential.
Since making his debut for Barcelona, Turan has only managed to start 23 games in La Liga in addition to a start in the Champions League – a testament to the fact that the 30-year-old has been reduced to be a bit part player at Camp Nou.
And having failed to continue the upward trajectory of his career at the Catalan club, Turan is reportedly set to quit Barcelona for pastures anew this summer. Leading the race to sign the player are Arsenal, as per widespread reports.
Arsene Wenger is keen to make reinforcements in attack, with Alexis Sanchez widely expected to depart from the Emirates this summer. Thus, the Arsenal boss has turned his attention back to Turan, having failed to land him in the summer of 2015.
However, Barcelona are set to adopt an unusual strategy before they offload Turan this summer. The Catalan club want to increase his value before he is sold in the transfer market. To do the aforementioned, they are going to include the player in Ernesto Valverde’s pre-season squad, and convey that he is not for sale.
Consequently, Barcelona are confident that they will be able to recoup the €34 million that they shelled out two years ago to secure his services. It now remains to be seen if the strategy helps Barcelona command a high enough fee, or if they are forced to sell Turan for a low amount instead.
