Arda Turan has officially signed a five-year contract with football giant F.C. Barcelona for 41 million euros on Friday, in a ceremony held at Camp Nou. The Turkish midfielder, who left Atletico Madrid to come to Barcelona, signed his contract in the presence of Ramon Adell, president of the Management Committee.
Born in Istanbul, Turan started playing football in Bayrampaşa. When he was only 12, he joined Galatasaray in 2000 where he stood out. In the 2004-05 season, Turan was promoted to the first team. Although he had only two appearances in his first season, Turan won the Turkish Cup before joining Manisaspor, a team in western Turkey, on loan.
He made his debut for the Turkish national team in August 2006. Turan played for Turkey for the first time against Luxembourg in a friendly match that Turkey won 1-0.
In the 2006/07 season, Turan became one of Galatasaray's most essential players. He claimed his first Super League title in 2008. In the beginning of the 2009/10 season, Turan was given the captaincy at the age of 22. That season, he scored 11 goals and had 26 assists in 47 matches.
Spanish club Atletico Madrid scooped him up for 12 million euros in August 2011. The 24-year-old scored 44 goals and made 76 assists in 190 matches for Galatasaray.In his first season at Atletico Madrid, Turan won the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. In 2013, the Turkish star witnessed his club's first Copa del Rey title win in 17 years.
Atletico's number 10 played an important role in his team's league title victory in the 2013/14 season. That same season, Atletico Madrid qualified for the Champions League final for the first time in 40 years.
The Turkish star Turan scored 22 goals and had 32 assists in 177 matches in his four-year spell at Atletico Madrid. With a transfer fee of 34 million euros, Barcelona's new signing becomes the most valuable Turkish player in history.
Turan has said it will be tough for him not being able to play until January due to a ban on the club on registering players. Spanish media have reported that the European champions may send Turan out on loan until 2016, possibly to his former club Galatasaray.
FIFA banned Barca from two transfer windows after they were deemed to have broken rules on the signing of foreign under-18 players, although they are allowed to buy and sell and have also added versatile wide player Aleix Vidal from Sevilla.
"It's going to be hard not playing for six months but the important thing is that I will play for Barca," Arda said in an interview with Spanish radio late on Tuesday.
"I will work until I am able to make my debut in January and I will help the team to win all the trophies," said the 28-year-old, adding that it will be a "dream" for him to play in the same team as the likes of forwards Lionel Messi and Neymar and midfielder Andres Iniesta.
Barca signed Turan to give coach Luis Enrique an extra creative option in midfield but also due to the club's links with Turkey and Turkish companies.
Domestic appliance maker Beko and tyre manufacturer Lassa are two of Barca's sponsors, while the club's 2.3 million Turkish Facebook fans put the nation seventh in the ranking of followers around the world.
The deal to sign Turan was complicated by the fact that Barca are in the midst of a presidential election campaign and are being administered by a special commission, which had to approve the transfer.
The commission included an unusual clause that means whoever wins the July 18 election has the option within two days of selling Turan back to Atletico at less than 10 percent of the fixed fee of 34 million euros.
Meanwhile, Vidal says it is a sacrifice worth making to join Europe's most successful team of the past decade.
