Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez has officially announced that the club has no intention of selling Arda Turan, despite his unconvincing performances.
Arda Turan had a rough start to his Blaugrana career, as he had to sit out for the first half of the season until January owing to Barcelona’s FIFA transfer ban, and thereafter missing the starting 11 due to under-par performances.
Barcelona’s midfield is presently overloaded, after the €35 million addition of Andre Gomes to it, which also includes Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Turan, Ivan Rakitic, Denis Suarez and Sergi Roberto. Facing doubts over first team action and interest from Arsenal, Chelsea, and several Turkish clubs, Arda Turan’s future looked like a move away from Camp Nou.
However, Barcelona have gone on record maintaining their view that they still expect Turan to earn his spot as they still seem to value him highly.
"Arda's situation has not changed," Fernandez said at a news conference, he continued saying, "He has had a difficult season, but we all know that his performances the year before that were very good. We are waiting for the Arda Turan of Atletico Madrid to return.”
Fernandez said that Turan was an important player for the club when he said, "We never considered selling Arda. There is no doubt about it that he can be important and decisive. He obviously had a tough season, but we are excited about what he can do in the new season. We expect his contribution to be very important."
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Presently, Arda Turan is with the Barcelona team in their pre-season training, ahead of the International Champions Cup friendly against Celtic on July 30 at Dublin.
Arda Turan was signed from Atletico Madrid for €41 million but, has failed to replicate his performances when at Atletico, where he scored 22 and made 32 goals in 178 appearances.
In related news, Fernandez hinted at the possibility of Barcelona offloading a couple of players at least. Martin Montoya and Cristian Tello, have been considered surplus to requirements by Luis Enrique, and could soon be axed by the club.
Fernandez has confirmed the club are holding discussions over a potential move for the duo. "There is nothing official yet regarding Montoya, but we are in talks with Valencia," he added. "Montoya and Tello have a contract with Barcelona and we respect them. There are offers for them. Montoya did well at Betis after his time at Inter, just like Tello at Porto and Fiorentina", said the Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez.
