Arda Turan confirms Barcelona turned down big money offer from China

Barcelona star Arda Turan has confirmed La Liga giants turned down a big money offer from an unnamed Chinese club to part ways with him during the summer transfer window. Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea were also reportedly interested in luring him to the Premier League but the Turkish international decided to continue at the Nou Camp instead.

The Catalans signed Turan from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2015. Chelsea, United and Arsenal were then already linked with his services but Barcelona won the race after agreeing to pay €34m (£30.6m, $38m) plus add-ons.

However, Turan was unable to play during the first part of the season because of a Fifa registration ban, then struggled to make any impact during the second part of the campaign. So after making only nine starting appearance in La Liga during the whole season, reports claimed that Barcelona were ready to part ways with him only a year after his arrival.

Earlier in April, Sport claimed that the player was thus "seriously considering" a lucrative offer to move to the Chinese Super League.

The Spanish Publication later reported that Chelsea, Arsenal, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe were also closely monitoring the situation, with the Blues having even already made preliminary enquiries to get his services.

Meanwhile, The Sun added that as well as the Gunners, United were also expected to take advantage of the situation to renew their interest in the Turkish international after having already tried his signature the previous summer.

Turan himself has confirmed during an interview with Beyaz TV that the offer from the Far East did exist, but failed to address whether a Premier League move was also in the table.

"Barcelona told me no because they believed in me, I am a long term project for the club and I didn't just come here to play six months," Turan said when asked whether is was true the Catalans received an offer worth around €50m from a Chinese club to secure his services.

Yet the decision has paid off after the Barcelona star has finally showed his talent during the opening games of the season, scoring five goals and providing four assists in 10 games.