Barcelona beat Chelsea to £29m signing of Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan... but new president could still cancel the deal
Barcelona have reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid to sign midfielder Arda Turan for £29million (€41million).
The
28 year old had attracted interest from Chelsea and Manchester United
but Barcelona have won the race to sign the versatile winger.
Barcelona will pay £24m upfront and £5m in add-ons for the Turkish international, who has signed a five-year deal.
Barcelona posted this mocked-up picture of Arda Turan in a club shirt after announcing a deal to sign him
Turan jetted off to meet his agent Ahmet Bulut as Barcelona last week as clubs battled for his signature
Arda Turan, pictured in action against Athletic Bilbao last season, will join Barcelona for £29million
The
deal also includes the option for Barcelona to send the player back to
Atletico before July 20 if the club's new president, who will be elected
on July 18, does not want to confirm the deal.
Should that happen then Barcelona would lose 10 per cent - or £2.4m - of the fee they paid to Atletico.
Presidential candidate Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed that manager Luis Enrique specifically asked the club to sign Turan.
Barcelona's managing commission are currently running the club until the upcoming elections and have approved the deal.
Should
Turan stay he will not be able to play for Barcelona until the club's
transfer ban - imposed for irregularities in signing young players - is
lifted in January.
Turan dominated the front pages in Spain on Tuesday morning with Sport's headline: 'Signed!'
Mundo Deportivo use the same headline as Sport as they welcome Turan to Barceona from Atletico Madrid
That
ban has not stopped Barca, who won the Primera Division, Copa del Rey
and Champions League last season, from recruiting Spanish winger Aleix
Vidal on a permanent transfer from Sevilla last month.
Arda's
arrival will strengthen Barca's midfield following the departure of
veteran captain Xavi, who has joined Qatari club Al Sadd after 24 years
with the Catalan giants.
Arda
may not have quite as much experience of the Primera Division, but he
was certainly a successful signing at the Vicente Calderon.
He
joined Atletico from Gala in 2011 and went on to make 127 appearances
for the Rojiblancos, winning the Europa League in his first season
before clinching the Copa del Rey in 2012-13.
The
following season saw Arda score three goals and set up four more in 30
league appearances as Atletico won their first Spanish league title in
18 years.
He started 28 league games as Atletico finished third in 2014-15 to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Chelsea were interested in signing Turan but he will now move to Spanish champions Barcelona
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