Arsenal are reportedly willing to meet Barcelona’s asking price for Arda Turan.
- Sporting competing with Arsenal for Barcelona’s Arda Turan
- Arsenal ready to meet Barcelona’s £26m asking price
- Turan made 18 La Liga appearances last season
Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move for Turan this summer, despite his agent, Ahmet Bulut, previously claiming that the attacking midfielder isn’t going anywhere.
Now, according to Marca, the Gunners are willing to meet Barca’s £26m (€30m) asking price. However, the La Liga giants would apparently prefer for the 30-year-old to move to China; a switch that Bulut claims his client isn’t personally keen on.
Turan, who recently retired from international football after assaulting a journalist, has struggled for consistent game time at Barcelona since signing from Atletico Madrid in 2015.
He’s not managed to replicate the form he discovered under manager Diego Simeone and only made 18 La Liga appearances totaling 1,244 minutes last season.
That’s around 69 minutes on average per appearance.
Sporting are also said to be interested in Turan, who has three years left on his current Barcelona deal.