Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been at the forefront of the club’s attempts to address and redress the economic and sporting turmoil the Catalan club was going through.
Now, as the 2023/2024 seasons gradually approaches FC Barcelona, the president, and his associates turn their heads towards the future with regards to assembling a competitive team that can once again become frontrunners in elite European competitions.
As he mentioned previously to Esports 3, the president has once again addressed the club’s pursuit of Turkish talent Arda Guler as per a recent report from Mundo Deportivo, who have highlighted the president’s words from a recent public appearance.
Emphasizing once more that FC Barcelona is indeed involved in talks to bring the 18-year-old prodigy to Catalonia, the president stated the following:
He is a very young, Turkish player, it is true that the scouting department has been following him for a long time now and all the important clubs in Europe want him and we are talking to Fenerbahce
Recent reports have suggested that soon-to-be Sporting Director Deco, whose position is yet to be made formally official, has been leading the delegation of Barcelona and also the talks in Turkey being held with Fenerbahce and the player’s representatives.
While the financial fair play matter remains to be completely assessed, at the moment Barcelona believe the most feasible option would be for the Catalan club to pay a part of the player’s €17.5 million release clause as well as additional costs of the transfer right now as he continues in Turkey for another year, and a part of it next year when the Catalans decide to bring him over to Spain.
Moreover, just as Laporta claims that other European sides are also looking to cash in on the talent and take him away to their respective sides, a recent report claims that Real Madrid are also one of such sides and Los Blancos are planning to make their move soon as well.
