Will Barcelona newboy act as bait in bid for Arsenal maestro?
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Mesut Ozil’s silky form for Arsenal this season has seen the Germany international linked with a move back to old stomping ground La Liga, with Barcelona thought to be particularly keen on the man who spent three years at arch-rivals Real Madrid.
So far, so straight forward, but rumours coming out of Turkey and Spain (as well as the much less reliable could-only-be-freesheet The Metro) suggest former Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan, who only made his Barca debut in January, could be offered to the Gunners as a makeweight in any deal.
Having signed from Atleti in the summer for the best part of €40m, the Turkey skipper was barred from appearing under new boss Louis Enrique until the start of this year, due to Barcelona’s recent transfer ban.
The 29-year-old has started seven of his new side’s 12 La Liga fixtures since debuting against Espanyol, but was only deemed good enough for a 13-minute cameo in Barca’s Champions League last-16 second leg clash against Arsenal 10 days ago, after missing the first leg altogether.
With the likes of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Sergi Roberto to compete with in the middle of the Camp Nou park, Turan may find top-level gametime easier to come by in the English capital.
Spanish sports tabloid AS, The Metro and turkish-football.com all repeat the rumour that Turan, along with fellow Barca boys Sandro Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi, will be offered to Arsenal in order to get around an alleged clause inserted by Real Madrid giving Los Blancos first refusal on Ozil.
The aforementioned website have been having a busy time on the rumour front, with turkish-football.com also linking PSG superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United, but only if the Red Devils make the Champions League.
Ibrahimovic had been linked with an £11m move to Fenerbahce, who would reportedly pay the Swede £10m per year.
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