Barcelona presidential candidate Josep Maria Bartomeu has urged the club to push through a deal for Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan.
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Bartomeu, who is standing for re-election, says boss Luis Enrique wants the player and that the interim board at the Nou Camp should deliver for their treble-winning coach.
Barca’s presidential election takes place on July 18 with Bartomeu forced to quit the role as club statutes dictate only an temporary board can be in place during the run-up to votes being cast.
Technically that means no signings can be made due to the lack of a figure of sufficient authority to approve such decisions. But a frustrated Bartomeu, who has agreed a fee of €34 million (Dh138.7m) with Atletico, said: “Arda Turan should join because Luis Enrique wants him.
“Signing a player requested by the manager who gave us the treble would be a correct action by the interim board. I have taken the deal a long way forward but it depends on the interim board.”
In a twist, however, the other leading candidate for the presidency, Joan Laporta, complained that Bartomeu was transgressing the club’s constitution by seeking to complete the deal at a time when the club should not really be making any transfers.
For now the position remains deadlocked, but Bartomeu is pushing hard to complete Turan’s switch to the Nou Camp because he feels the talented playmaker will go elsewhere if Barca wait until after the elections to approve the deal.
Specifically, Premier League champions Chelsea are keen on reuniting the 28-year-old with his former team-mates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, and both Atletico and Turan have stated that a final decision must be made early next week.
Although he has not spoken publicly on his next destination, Turan has privately admitted that joining Barca would be his preferred option. However, he does not want to wait another fortnight for Barca’s elections because he fears the deal would be off if Laporta became president, and that Chelsea may also have moved on to other targets by then.
Similarly, Laporta is also angered that Barca have made an approach for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, even though he is keen on signing the Frenchman.
