Eyebrows were raised when Barcelona announced the official signing of 28 years old Turkish and Athletico Madrid attacking midfielder Arda Turan for £24.4 million last week. Turan cannot be classified as a bad player but the question most
people ask is how he can improve the already perfect Barcelona attacking team boasting Ivan Rakitic, Andreas Iniesta, Neymar Junior, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi to mention but a few. At 28 years old and without much resale value, it is shocking that Turan was signed at an astronomical fee of £24.4 million, taking into account that he will be 29 years when he finally makes his debut in January 2016 for Barcelona because of the ban on Barcelona. Also even after President Josep Bartomeu claimed that Turan was signed because of the pressure from Athletico for Barcelona to get the deal done quickly, also given the desire of coach Luis Enrique to have him, it is clear that Turan was purchased as a pawn in the game in reference to the Barcelona FC Presidential Elections on July 18, 2015. It is surprising why the rush to sign Turan few days before the elections even though his contract allows who ever wins the elections to cancel his contract and send him back to Athletico with Barcelona parting with £3.4 million. Bartomeu is facing serious several corruption and tax evasion charges along with former President Sandro Rosell involving the transfer of Neymar to Barcelona from Santos (Brazil). Could it be that the signing of Turan was used by Bartomeu to raise the stakes and give him an undue advantage in the race for FC Barcelona's Presidency?
On the field, it appears clearer that Turan is a signing with a political motive rather than a football motive. This is because, last season in his 32 league games for Athletico, he scored a mere two goals and assisted only four. He had a 50% shot accuracy and created 34 chances all season. He also had an 85% average pass accuracy with a pass length of 13m and won 49% average duels. To further buttress, Turan played 130 official league games for Turkish giants Galatasaray scoring a little 29
(a goal in almost every five games as an attacking midfielder). In Athletico Madrid, it became worse as he scored 13 goals in 127 league games (One goal in almost every 10 games). With this stat, it is difficult to fathom how the signing of Turan is football related. Coming at the cost of £24.4 million at 29 years, wasn't it better Barcelona used that fee for a younger player with a high tendency to only get better? Macro Verratti, Oscar, Matteo Kovacic etc.
Barcelona is a club which is so perfect to make even better considering it's array of stars but it is clear that Arda Turan is not up to the task. Turan is a good footballer who could dribble, shoot and run, helping the team especially when out of possession but his goal return is low for the statue of a club like Barcelona. Only time will tell if the signing of Turan is a step forward or backwards for Barcelona.
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