According to reports in Fanatik, Turkey’s number one sports daily, this weekend’s Istanbul derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce is to be the hotspot for a number of European scouts in order to watch a certain Arda Turan.

Surprisingly, despite the continued links with Liverpool, it is Tottenham who have been heavily linked with the player today. Turan has been suffering from an injury sustained in training and missed the 1-0 loss to Trabzon at the weekend. He faces a race against time to be fit for Sunday’s crunch fixture which could end one of the team’s title push. Both of the Istanbul giants are trailing behind shock leader’s Bursaspor who, having won their game in hand on Monday now have a 5 and 6 point gap over Galatasaray and Fenerbahce respectively.

According to the paper, Spurs representatives will be present at the match on Sunday and could even prepare an offer before leaving Turkey after the game. It is, however, always wise to take reports like this with a pinch of salt. For nearly two years now, Arda has been linked with Premiership clubs from ‘The Island’ as they like to refer to it in the newspapers, and yet no deals have been secured.

The links with Tottenham do make some sense. Giovani Dos Santos is on loan at the Turkish club and, given that he is finally beginning to show glimpses of his Barcelona form, he could be used as a make-weight in any future deal. Arda is the club captain, and certainly the fans favourite, but Cimbom have attacking players in abundance. If they can settle a deal consisting of Dos Santos and a substantial amount of cash then it would be hard to see the ‘lions’ stopping him on his way.

The player has himself expressed a desire to play in England, and in particular Liverpool, but the potential lure of Champions League football, and the fact that Liverpool may not be able to match the clubs asking price, could sway his decision elsewhere.

Another twist in the transfer story of Turkey’s number one target.

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