Arsenal fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief, with the news that Barcelona’s Arda Turan is signing for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, ending the long-running Gunners saga.

After being heavily linked with Arsenal over the summer as a potential replacement for Mesut Ozil, Turan is officially set to complete his move to Istanbul Basaksehir this week, which means he’s not signing for our club.

Although decent, the ex-Atletico Madrid man is nowhere near good enough to replace the German international.

Basaksehir’s coach Abdullah Avci revealed on Wednesday that the 30-year-old would be returning to his home country with an announcement set to take place this week.

“The transfer of Arda will be announced on Thursday or Friday,” he said. “It hasn’t been an easy transfer, Arda has been our goal for many years and I have to thank the president for this signing.”

“Arda has reached an agreement with Basaksehir and he doesn’t want to listen to any other offers,” Ahmet Bulut, Turan’s agent, told Sporx. “He wants to go back to Istanbul.”

Since moving to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid in 2015, Turan has failed to replicate the success he enjoyed under Diego Simeone.

arda turan
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The attacking midfielder is yet to make a single appearance for the Catalan giants this season, and only made 14 La Liga starts last term, scoring three goals and providing three assists.

The Turkey international has a contract with Barca until 2020, and while it’s unclear how much league leaders Basaksehir are having to pay for Turan, Arsenal were reportedly being asked for £27m in the summer.

This allegedly dropped to £18m in December, when it seemed they realised no one in their right mind would pay close to £30m for a 30-year-old that’s not played regular football in two years.

Nevertheless, he’s their problem now.