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Football

17th Dec 2015

Agent confirms that Manchester United made summer bid for La Liga star before he signed for Barcelona

Another missed opportunity

Darragh Murphy

Manchester United fans were crying out for attacking options in the summer.

Pedro, Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale were all linked with moves to Old Trafford but Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial were the only attack-oriented players to arrive in the last transfer window.

That’s not for lack of trying though and United did attempt to procure the services of one of the most exciting players in La Liga in former Atletico Madrid star Arda Turan.

Club Atletico de Madrid v Levante UD - La Liga

Turan, who signed for Barcelona instead but cannot play until 1 January due to the Catalan giants’ transfer ban, was on Louis van Gaal’s list of targets but opted to stay in Spain according to his agent.

“Last season Manchester United made a bid for Arda but Atletico Madrid did not want him to leave,” Turan’s agent, Ahmet Bulut, told AMK , who initially kept the talks with Barcelona under wraps.

Barcelona v AS Roma - Pre Season Friendly

“I was in talks with Barcelona but told nobody about it at the time.”

We’re sure that, had he signed with LVG’S United, that Turan could well have been turned into one of the most proficient sideways passers in the whole Premier League.

He’ll live to regret his decision.