Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan has a soft spot for Liverpool

Arda Turan

Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan has revealed that he has a soft spot for Premier League outfit Liverpool, report Four Four Two.

The Turkish winger was strongly linked with a move to Anfield earlier in the season as well as when he left Galatasaray back in 2011, but opted to join Atleti instead.

The Spanish side have been in fine form this season and are currently top of the La Liga table with just six matches remaining. Turan now appears to be settled with Madrid the 27-year-old yet has admitted he holds the Merseyside skipper and the club’s morals in high regard.

“I’ve always played for teams in red [Galatasaray, Manisaspor, Turkey] and I’ve always admired Steven Gerrard.

“So yes, I have a soft spot for Liverpool, especially given their history and the atmosphere at Anfield,” he insisted.

With the Reds currently top of the Premier League table, Turan could have the opportunity to take on his highly respected rival in Europe’s most prestigious club competition next season.

Meanwhile, Atletico are still involved in this year’s tournament and face Barcelona in the second leg of their quarter final at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night.

Diego Simeone’s side may not be favourites to progress but Turan prefers to keep the scale of the club’s ambitions to himself, rather than make brash statements about their chances of success.

“Since Cholo (Simeone) arrived we always refrained from making bold statements about our ambitions. Obviously our intentions are always to win, and for us, every match we play is a final whether it’s in the Champions League or La Liga.

“We are proud to be playing in the Champions League again and it’s a great time for the club. We will take every game as it comes, approach it with the mentality of a final and see what happens. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have big ambitions – I can assure you we do – but we prefer to keep them to ourselves,” he declared.

Arda Turan has scored three goals and provided four assists for Atletico Madrid in La Liga this season.