Arda Turan was less than complimentary towards his old Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde, who made feel ‘insignificant’.
After impressing for fellow LaLiga side Atletico Madrid, Turan joined FC Barcelona in 2015 for a whopping €34m fee. He proceeded to play 55 times under Luis Enrique, providing 15 goals and 11 assists. The Spaniard’s departure two years later, however, led to a change in fortunes.
Turan quickly found himself frozen out of the squad under Enrique’s replacement Valverde. In fact, he didn’t make a single appearance in the first-half of the 2017/18 campaign.
Therefore, Turan left Camp Nou in January 2018 for a return to his native Turkey. He signed for Istanbul Basaksehir FK on loan and spent the following two-and-a-half seasons at the club.
The 33-year-old winger recently ended his Blaugrana nightmare for good by signing for boyhood club Galatasaray on a free transfer, but he made it clear the decision to leave Barca was his alone.
“Valverde made me feel slighted,” Turan told beIN Sports Turkey.
“He said he was going to play me but he didn’t. He said he was going to give me a chance but he didn’t.
“Everything was fine when Luis Enrique was there. We had won the league and the cup. Yes, sometimes things didn’t go as planned in the Champions League.
“With Valverde, I felt insignificant and decided to leave. No one, including Valverde, has forced me out of Barcelona. I have made the decision to leave.”
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