Marca: Arda Turan wants Atlético return

A favorite topic among some Atlético Madrid supporters is the plight of Arda Turan. The Turkish midfielder has been mocked often since his departure for Barcelona in 2015; he has been ridiculed for his sloppiness on the ball, his injuries and even his weight. Barça, it seems, have been trying to get rid of the player almost since they bought him two years ago, but now Turan wants to control where his future lies.

Marca’s Luis Aznar reported Tuesday morning that Turan, unloved and unwanted by Barcelona’s new boss, wants to return to Atlético amid interest from Galatasaray and Chinese clubs. Turan did not play in Barça’s preseason Gamper Trophy friendly against Chapecoense, and Valverde’s decision to keep him glued to the bench is being taken as a sign that the 30-year-old has to go.

You read that right: the guy who once said he wanted to leave Atlético because Diego Simeone made him run too much now wants to play for Simeone again because no one else will take him.

There’s no doubt that Turan’s career has stalled since his controversial move to Catalonia, while Atlético haven’t seemed to miss him one bit. During his prime at Atleti, Turan was revered for his ball control, passing and ability to pop up with important goals. But he did not play the first half of the 2015/16 season while Barça served a registration ban, a decision which set him back immensely and grew to exacerbate his already-frequent bumps and bruises. Despite a career-best 13 goals in all competitions in 2016/17, he was rarely favored by Luis Enrique when fit and struggled to produce consistently in the Asturian’s 4-3-3.

Plus, he tried to strangle a journalist while on international duty in June, an incident that led to the end of his Turkey career. Violence against journalists is appalling and reprehensible, and that Turan expressed no remorse for his conduct is all one needs to know about his character. Don’t come after journalists.

In the meantime, I’ll place the call to Tianjin Quanjian myself.