Arda Turan eager for Atletico Madrid return as Galatasaray pursue Barcelona midfielder

Arda Turan wants to return to former employers Atletico Madrid as doubts persist over his future at Barcelona, according to reports from Spain.

The tenacious midfielder is expected to depart Catalonia after two seasons this summer, with technical secretary Robert Fernandez having previously admitted that the Blaugrana would be willing to listen to offers amid interest from Arsenal, Inter Milan and suitors from the Chinese Super League (CSL).

Galatasaray have now emerged as perhaps the front-runners in the race to sign former captain Turan after president Dursun Ozbek confirmed that the Super Lig giants were working to sort out the "conditions" of a transfer potentially worth between €15m (£13.5m, $17.6m) and €20m that would see the 30-year-old return to his boyhood club after six years away.

Turan appears to be keen for a different reunion, however, with Marca suggesting that he has offered to return to Atletico. The same publication claims that Los Colchoneros have not made any offer and that the former Turkish international is not part of manager Diego Simeone's plans for the future.

Turan initially swapped Madrid for the Nou Camp in a deal worth an initial €34m two summers ago, but he, along with right-back Aleix Vidal, was forced to wait until January 2016 to make his Barcelona debut after the club served a 14-month ban on registering any new players. Atletico are currently serving a similar suspension after their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was rejected in June.

Such a ruling scuppered a potential deal for French striker Alexandre Lacazette and has also significantly complicated their attempts to secure a return to the Spanish capital for Chelsea striker Diego Costa. Atletico did still manage to complete the signing of Sevilla winger Vitolo, who will spend the first half of the 2017-18 campaign on loan at Las Palmas.

Turan made only 14 La Liga starts during Luis Enrique's final season in charge of Barcelona, but still managed to net 13 goals across all competitions. Although he did feature in friendlies against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid during the club's pre-season tour of the United States last month, he was left as an unused substitute by new boss Ernesto Valverde on Monday night (7 August) for an emotional Joan Gamper Trophy meeting with Chapecoense.

The now Neymar-less Barcelona won former Athletic Bilbao coach Valverde's first home match in charge 5-0 courtesy of goals from new signing Gerard Deulofeu, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Denis Suarez.

Previous suggestions that Turan would follow the likes of oft-maligned centre-back Jeremy Mathieu out of Barcelona were refuted late last month following reports that he had performed something of a transfer U-turn. Agent Ahmet Bulut has also been eager to stress that his client is going nowhere this summer.