Barcelona star Arda Turan may have been left out of the Turkish national team by Fatih Terim but he has been working hard behind the scenes on the future of the national team setup.
Turan spoke to Turkish sports program Beyaz Futbol where he explained his role in convincing Borussia Dortmund wonder-kid to pick the Crescent Stars and how he failed to get Liverpool’s Emre Can to join.
“I worked hard to convince Emre Mor to select Turkey, I could see his potential and it is clear he has what it takes to become a major star,” Turan said.
“I also worked hard on trying to convince Emre Can to join but we weren’t successful.”
Mor was born in Denmark but was eligible to represent Turkey at international level through his parents. The 19-year-old was fast tracked to the senior national team and provided an assist over the European Championships in France this summer also earning himself a transfer to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.
Can was born in Germany but like Mor was eligible to play for the Crescent Stars due to being an ethnic Turk. The Liverpool midfielder opted to represent Germany at senior international level but keeps close ties to his family in Turkey.
The 22-year-old spent part of his summer break at his families town of Yeşilhisar in the Hocalar district of Afyon, Turkey. Afyon translates to Opium in English as the plant was and still is widely grown in the region.
Turan was not called up for the Turkish national team games against Ukraine and Iceland despite being in impressive form for Barca having scored five times and provided four assists this season.
