Arda Turan has revealed Barcelona rejected a £45m offer from China in the summer.
The 29-year-old has endured a mixed start to life at Barcelona after being signed from Atletico Madrid in a deal worth £24m.
There had been suggestions Barcelona were looking to sell the Turkey international in the summer but Turan has rejected those reports.
“Last season, a club from China have offered €50m to Barcelona for me but they rejected because I’m a long-term project,” Turan told Beyaz TV, via The Daily Mail. “Barcelona didn’t sign me just for six months.”
Of players to have started at least two La Liga games this season only Toni Kroos (93%) has completed a greater proportion of his passes than Turan (92.7%).
For more stats on Arda Turan, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
This all seems so weird to me. I can't comprehend Barcelona thinking of Turan as a long term project at his age, and I can't figure why a Chinese team would try to sign him from Barcelona when they could have tried during the Summer.