Official: Barcelona land Chelsea target

If you wanted Arda Turan to sign for Chelsea, too bad! For he has signed with Barcelona instead. And for a lot of money.

Arda moving for 34 million euros plus 7 million in variables.

— AS English (@English_AS) July 6, 2015

No matter how often he throws his shoes at referees, it's difficult to justify a €34-41 million (that's £24-£29 million, thanks to the exchange rate) transfer fee for a 28-year-old winger who's never exactly been world class, and I'm glad that Chelsea didn't match what the Catalans were offering. It'd certainly be nice to give Willian more competition on the right, but if he plays at the level he hit in the second half of last season, Turan would have been a pretty superfluous addition.

Anyway, Turan will now have to sit out half the season as Barcelona are under a squad registration ban until the end of the January transfer window, and aren't allowed to field new players. This obviously has not prevented them from buying new players and sitting on their rights. Good transfer ban, UEFA.