Barcelona Transfer News: Arda Turan Loophole Presented to FIFA, Latest Rumours

Arda Turan could make his Barcelona debut earlier than expected. The Spanish FA (RFEF) has reportedly approached FIFA on the Catalan giants' behalf to pursue the possibility of circumventing the club's registration ban after Rafinha's horror injury.

According to MailOnline's Pete Jenson, Barcelona appealed to the RFEF about the possibility of registering summer purchase Turan outside of the transfer window due to the special circumstances of having lost Rafinha to a long-term injury.

Barca were not able to register Turan in the summer after his arrival from Atletico Madrid for £24 million as they were serving a two-window FIFA registration ban.

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That ban has now technically finished, but Turan—and other summer purchase Aleix Vidal—still cannot turn out for Barca as it is against the rules to register players outside a transfer window.

The only exception is if a player is lost to injury for more than five months, and winger Rafinha was recently ruled out for six months after suffering a cruciate ligament tear against Roma, per Jenson.

If FIFA respond positively to the RFEF's request then Barcelona can draft in Turan to make up for the loss of the Brazilian.

However, Spanish outlet Sport (h/t Sport Witness) reports that the Blaugrana are not holding out for any leniency from FIFA and are expecting their request to be rejected.

Rafinha had started the season well and was establishing his position in the first team following the summer departure of Pedro, per Spanish football writer Andy West:

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique is likely now regretting the sale of Pedro to Chelsea, but Turkish midfielder Turan would be an ideal man to draft in as a replacement for Rafinha.

However, if the RFEF's enquiry is rejected, Enrique will have to work with what he has until Turan can be registered in January.

While Barcelona undoubtedly have the resources to cope until then, it will likely require more minutes from the rest of the squad, which could be telling come the business end of the season.