Patrick Rees
Our gaffer Jose Mourinho is in talks with Barcelona’s Arda Turan over a potential move to Old Trafford this summer, according to AS.
The aforementioned source further claims that Mourinho admires the Turkish international a lot and has already met him “on many occasions”. Turan moved to Barcelona back in 2015 after a stellar stint with Atletico Madrid, but never really fit into the Catalans’ plans.
Capable of playing anywhere across the attacking line, it was always going to be a tough task to replace any of the players from the famed ‘MSN’. Although Neymar has moved on, Turan’s first team participation is still a question to many.
He was firmly linked with a move to his former side Galatasaray recently, but his agent denied the claims, saying,
“The news that Arda Turan agreed with Galatasaray is not true,” he told beIN SPORTS. “I didn’t talk to Barcelona about Arda Turan.”
Galatasaray chairman Dursun Ozbek, however, has expressed his desire of having him back at Türk Telekom, saying,
“If he ever wants to return to Turkey, he will definitely be playing for Galatasaray.
Now Manchester United have entered the foray. Making three high profile signings already, Jose Mourinho wants one more player at his disposal. His eagerness of landing a winger was made evident with Ivan Perisic’s pursuit. We were chasing the Croatia international as anything and made several bids as well, but to no effect. Inter eventually slapped an immaterial price tag and the news eventually died.
Both Perisic and Turan are of similar ilk. Capable of delivering deadly crosses, tracking up and down the flank constantly, venomous in counter attacks, the only thing that separates these two are their ages. While Perisic stands at 28, Turan does not really have many peak years ahead of him at 30. Hence, it is quite evident to say that the Turkish winger will be more of a gamble.
He sure will bring a much-needed attacking verve and might well deliver as expected. But he is certainly not a long-term option. The eventual drop in form will lead to his market value dropping down and less profit at the end.
