Arda Turan talks about Messi, Neymar and his Barca departure

Atletico Madrid still miss Arda Turan because since his departure, they have not found a player who can do what the Turk was doing on the field of play. But Turan did not want to pass up the opportunity of going to Barcelona and packed his bags fully in the knowledge that he was not going to defintely be in the starting XI. His role at Barcelona kept getting less important before he decided to return to his homeland.

"Messi is a friend of mine and I am still in touch with Neymar and also with Dani Alves. I still talk to Pique and a while back, we met up with the president of the Turkish Tennis Federation," said the winger.

Arda Turan gave his opinion on how he was used while Luis Enrique was on the bench and what changed with Valverde: "I was the 'lifeline'. I was the 12th man, but Valverde didn't give me many chances to play and I left because I wasn't happy."

On his intentions of going back to Galatasaray after leaving Barcelona, Turan felt embarrassed not to get an offer from them. "I suppoirt Galatasaray, Money was not my priority under any concept. I am offered a load of money in the Turkish League and I haven't accepted it. Galatasaray did not offer me anything when I left Spain," he concluded.