Barcelona, Atletico Madrid interested in 18-year-old Turkish attacking midfield prospect

According to a report from AS, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are among the clubs keeping tabs on 18-year-old Fenerbahce prospect Arda Guler.

The teenage attacking midfielder made his first-team debut for the Turkish giants last season and has continued to enhance his reputation in the ongoing campaign.

So far in 2022/23, Guler has played 20 matches across all competitions and has contributed with three goals and two assists. The youngster was even handed the #10 kit this term after Mesut Ozil’s goodbye.

Still very much in the nascent stages of his career, Guler has demonstrated great raw potential, that has seemingly caught the attention of several top clubs across Europe, which includes Barcelona.

The Blaugrana have made it a point of late to identify and invest in young talent, having seen the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Alejandro Balde and Ronald Araujo flourish at the club in recent years.

Furthermore, given the club’s financial situation, it makes sense to make the youth roster stronger and more robust so that they can produce stars for the future from within the club.

It has led to Barça getting linked with many young prospects, more recently Saido Balde of Hamburg. They have also brought in players such as Julian Araujo and Lucas Roman for the reserve team, with the view of grooming them for the senior setup.

And, Guler could also be one such player on the club’s agenda, although Barcelona will likely have to face competition from Atletico Madrid as well as some other teams in Europe for his signing.

Guler’s market value, according to Transfermarkt, is around €10 million. He is contracted with Fenerbahce until the summer of 2025. He is still a raw talent with a lot of untapped potential. Whether Barcelona’s reported interest in him materialises into something concrete remains to be seen.