Chelsea never entered into negotiations for new Barcelona signing

As it turns out, Chelsea were never really an option for Arda Turan, even if the London club was his preferred destination, as many papers have suggested. Turan's agent had some comments following the player's transfer to Barcelona on Monday, and indicated that Chelsea never entered the negotiations for Turan's signature:

"We didn't talk with Chelsea, Barcelona was the first option. We got an agreement because of Luis Enrique's insistence."

While it was obvious that Turan would have been a nice fit for Chelsea right now, at the numbers being thrown about, combined with the player's age, I really wanted nothing to do with this transfer. It certainly makes me feel a little better that the club isn't going back to the days of targeting players approaching 30 on long-term deals, instead, targeting younger players likely to carry their weight for the full length of their contract, or older players on a far shorter-term basis.

Like Robin Van Persie moving to Manchester United several years ago, I really think the Blues have dodged a bullet by staying out of talks for Arda.