Turkish midfielder Arda Turan is essentially out of action for the first half of the season.

The talented player left Atlético Madrid to sign for La Liga rivals Barcelona during the summer, but the Spanish champions are under a transfer ban and aren’t allowed to register any new players until January.

Nonetheless, Turkey have still selected him for the latest round of European Championships qualifiers and he has had some kind words for an Arsenal youth product.

The Gunners faced Oguzhan Özyakup last season in a Champions League qualifier against Besiktas, and Arda believes the 22-year-old has bags of talent.

“Özyakup is a top quality player he is so gifted but as I have told him he must become more aggressive,” the Barcelona midfielder said in an interview with Lig TV.

“He has to press harder, become more physical and close down more.”

Maybe it was his time at Arsenal that got the aggressive side of his game out of him? London Colney certainly isn’t the place to develop that.

Özyakup is now doing incredibly well for himself, and these latest comments from a giant of Turkish football reaffirm that. He has three assists and one goal after three games of the new domestic season in Turkey.

His professional Arsenal career brought just 27 minutes of first team football as a teenager, but he did manage an assist in that time on the pitch. Hopefully he continues to do well, and Arsenal can hold on to some of the current talent coming through.