Forgotten Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan returns to training ahead of Malaga clash

Forgotten Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan returned to training on Thursday (19 October) after having missed the last two games against Atletico Madrid and Olympiacos due to a mysterious muscle injury.

However, Jordi Alba and long-term injury duo Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha Alcantara didn't appear in the video released by the club during the workout as Ernesto Valverde's side began preparations for the Saturday's visit of Malaga.

Turan is yet to play a single minute in the opening part of the season after Barcelona unsuccessfully tried to part ways with him during the summer transfer window.

Valverde looked ready to give him a chance to resurrect his career when earlier in August included the Turkish international in his squad for the La Liga opener against Real Betis.

But the former Atletico Madrid star didn't feature in that game and has since been left out of Valverde's squad in all the following encounters played by Barcelona both in La Liga and the Champions League.

Yet, Turan has still had two opportunities to prove himself during this time as he was called up by the Turkish national team for the World Cup qualifiers of September and October.

Both times the midfielder returned to Barcelona with different injuries which added more uncertainty to his situation and sparked speculations about his potential departure from the Nou Camp ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

The Turkish international has eventually missed both the draw at Atletico Madrid on weekend and the Wednesday's victory over Olympiacos with the club assuring that he was struggling with a muscle injury sustained while on international duty.

But Barcelona have revealed that Turan was back in training on Thursday and Valverde may now consider giving him a chance to play in the coming games.

Nevertheless, the Saturday's visit of Malaga will come only three days before a Copa del Rey encounter against Murcia in which the regular fringe players are expected to start.

"There was no rest following Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Olympiakos, as manager Ernesto Valverde had his men back out on the practice field Thursday morning, when the rain that had begun the previous night was still going strong," Barcelona informed in the club website.

"Wednesday night's starters did recovery work and Arda Turan was back with the group. Three reserve players [Morer, Santi Bueno, Moisés and Samu Araujo] and one from the Under-19 team [Iñaki Peña] also took part in a session that served as the beginning of Barça's preparations for its next match — Saturday's La Liga encounter with Málaga at Camp Nou."

Dembele and Rafinha are ruled out for the visit of Malaga as they are not expected to return to action from their respective serious injuries until next year.

Meanwhile, Alba could also be unavailable for the Saturday's clash with the Andalucian side after he already missed the win over Olympiakos due to a thigh injury sustained during the Tuesday's training session. Yet, the left-back didn't appeared in the video released by the club during the workout and Barcelona are yet to provide a further update on his recovery.