Barcelona Laughs in the Face of Transfer Bans as They Sign Arda Turan

Beard vs Hair

After a taxing summer, Arda Turan has signed up for a 6 month vacation with transfer-banned Barcelona. Sort of.

Barcelona posted on their website yesterday that they’d sgiend the midfielder for £29M BUT will only keep him if the new board approve.

Barcelona’s new president will be elected on the 18th of the month and will have 2 days to decide whether to stick or twist. If he opts out, Turan will head back to Atlético while Barcelona will lost 10% of the money they paid up front - approximately £2.4M.

If Turn does remain at Barcelona, he will be ineligible to play until January - when the club’s transfer ban for irregularities in signing young players is lifted. The ban has clearly not stopped the Catalan sign for making other signings with irregularities.
While Barcelona were looking to strengthen their midfield with the departure of Xavi, Arda could struggle to get in the side ahead of Ivan Rakitic who enjoyed a successful spell since moving from Sevilla. Rakitic scored 5 and assisted 7 goals in his 32 La Liga apps last season while Arda managed to find the back of the net just twice.

Turan had attracted interest from Manchester United but was thought to be holding out for a move to Chelsea.