Barcelona Transfer News: Arda Turan Appeal over FIFA Ban Set to Go Before CAS

Barcelona have confirmed they're willing to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in their attempt to register Arda Turan before the January transfer window, as they believe they have the right to an exception for the Turkey international.

According to the Daily Mail's Pete Jenson, the Blaugrana released a statement confirming the news. Per BBC Sport, the Catalans are still negotiating with the Spanish football federation and FIFA, but CAS presents a realistic option should those negotiations turn sour.

Turan joined the club from Atletico Madrid during the summer, but due to a transfer embargo, Barcelona are unable to register the Turkey midfielder until January, per Jenson.

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Players cannot be registered outside of the transfer period, but there is an exception to the rule: In the case of long-term injuries, a club can approach its football federation and register another player. Barcelona lost Rafinha to a serious knee injury earlier this season.

Barcelona's transfer ban officially ended at the end of last summer, so they should be allowed to bring in Turan due to Rafinha's injury. But FIFA have refused to answer repeated requests from the Catalans, per Jenson, and it “has left them with no alternative but to go to CAS.”

Fans have yet to see what Turan can bring to the table at the Camp Nou, as he's played just a handful of matches on international duty this season, per AS English:

He played in Turkey's final two wins of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification campaign, helping the team qualify for the tournament at the expense of the Netherlands. In both matches, Turan looked like the creative, energetic force that rose to the top of Spanish football with Atletico.

The Catalans would love to have him in their squad right now, given the minor injury wave that has struck manager Luis Enrique's troops.

Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta are both currently sidelined, via BBC Sport, and the Blaugrana have struggled of late, losing two of their last three La Liga matches.

Turan would be a perfect replacement for the latter, pairing with Ivan Rakitic to give the club one of the most dynamic midfields in all of La Liga.

With those two pulling the strings, the likes of Neymar and Luis Suarez would have to focus less on creating chances and more on scoring goals, which happens to be what they do best.

The stand-off between FIFA and Barcelona has been going on for some time now―Spanish news agency EFE (h/t ESPN FC) claimed the Catalans were planning to appeal to CAS earlier in October―and it always seemed likely to reach its conclusion in court.

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