At the time of writing, Atletico Madrid are at the top of the La Liga table. Yep, you read that right. Barcelona just suffered a surprised defeat, that sees them a single point behind the leaders, whilst Real Madrid have a game in hand and could find themselves in pole position at the end of this current list of fixtures.
Still, whatever way you cut it, Atletico Madrid have achieved something wonderful this season: they’re pushing the two Spanish powerhouses all the way and that’s something that should be applauded.
This feat is largely down to players like Diego Costa, who has been scoring goals for fun this season and playmaker Koke, who has been providing the Brazilian with all the opportunities. Another player who has played an important role this season is Turkish wing-wizard, Arda Turan.
His pace, craft and intelligence down the wing has helped to open things up for the La Liga side and he’s started to attract attention from plenty of other clubs.
According to Soccerisma, one of those clubs is Arsenal. The source also carries quotes from the player’s agent, who says the following:
“He is interested in working under Arsene Wenger and Arda would like to play in England.”
It’s interesting that Arsene Wenger’s name is mentioned here. Wenger was the main reason why Mesut Ozil agreed to move to the Emirates last summer and it looks like he could also be the driving force in any potential deal for Turan.
Unfortunately for the Gunners, this Turkish ace won’t come cheap. Soccerisma claim that he has a 40m euro release clause written into his Madrid contract. That’s £33m! Here’s hoping that Arsene could persuade Diego Simeone to sell for significantly less.
With Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain seemingly destined to play in the middle of the park and Lukas Podolski offering diminishing returns, it wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger opted to bolster this area of the pitch.
After all, he has spent most of this season playing central midfielders like Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey out on the wings. Surely it’s time to give an out-and-out winger a chance?
If Turan is available for a fair price, then I’d like to see Wenger give him a shot.
What’s your take? Would Arda Turan be a good fit for Arsenal?
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