Arsenal: Arda Turan gives needed first bit of good news
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal have been heavily tied to Arda Turan, but thankfully, the Turk’s agent has spoken up and given us all a scoop of good news.
Arsenal has been looking for wide attacking solutions and have turned up some pretty promising names. Among them, however, is Arda Turan, who now infamously mocked the Gunners as his second choice if Barcelona didn’t work out.
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Hardly flattering words for a club as proud as the North Londoners. Yet still the transfer rumors persisted that Turan was nearing a move to the Emirates worth some ridiculous figure like £26m or more. Which would be just as much as a much more sensible option like Thomas Lemar or Riyad Mahrez.
Turan, who is 30 years old now, has not had the paradise he likely imagined he would have at the Catalans. His play time has been limited and, as such, he has had limited production.
Hence why the rumored move sprung up in the first place. But after such a dangerously close link, we have finally had a bit of good news from Turan’s agent. Have a look (via the Metro):
"Arda is not going anywhere. Barcelona’s directors are happy with him. We haven’t spoken to any club about a transfer. The stories that have come out in the media that he will be leaving have annoyed Arda. And nor has it gone down well with board members at the club – Arda Turan will see out his contract. He will stay at Barca until 2020."
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That’s right, Turan is not coming to Arsenal!
Of course these are just words. We never know what will actually happen and honestly, that last bit about how Turan will stay at Barca until 2020 worries me, because that seems incredibly unlikely. But for now, this is an actual statement from an actual person and that actual person is saying that Turan will not be coming to North London.
So that is where the good news comes into play.
It’s not that Turan isn’t talented. We all know he is. It’s the question of motivation and being his blatant second choice. There are plenty of more talented players on the squad already, it’s just a matter of pushing the effort through until the end and maximizing that talent.
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Turan doesn’t add much. At this point, I find Theo Walcott more useful, simply because we know what he can do and he is a Gunner. Turan has never played in the Premier League and clearly doesn’t think too highly of Arsenal anyway.