10 Things Barcelona Fans Need To Know About Arda Turan

You could say that it's about time Arda Turan got his big break but that would be unfair on Atletico Madrid. The Turkish international made 127 appearances for the Rojiblancos and his trophy cabinet isn't exactly bare. More importantly, during his four years in the Spanish capital he received a priceless education from Diego Simeone that made his application to the Barcelona-school-of-midfield-brilliance stand out above the rest. Turan has developed from a fine playmaker into a world beater and one now deserving of playing at football's highest level. His dribbling, pressing, energy and vision has been so finely tuned by Simeone that he will seamlessly slot into Luis Enrique's like-minded midfield. The 28-year-old's versatility across the midfield offers Enrique a number of options. Barcelona's 4-3-3 currently plays to the strengths of their deadly front three strikers, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Therefore it's likely that Turan will sit as part of a midfield trio alongside Sergio Busquets and Ivan Ratikic. Depending on Andes Iniesta's fitness (and I am not suggesting the Spanish master's career has come to an end) Turan could cement his place as chief playmaker and add a fourth missile to their already impressive attacking armoury. Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed that Turan was a direct request from Enrique and it's a signing that represents the current manager's intelligence to develop his treble-winning side. What we will see from the former Galatasaray man is a player who works tirelessly to retrieve the ball like Bayern Munich's Xabi Alonso but morphs into Manchester City's David Silva as he presses forward. We didn't think it was possible to replace Xavi Hernandez so easily but Enrique just did... Here at WhatCulture.com/sport we discuss 10 things Barcelona fans need to know about Barcelona's £24.1 million man...