In-form winger Arda Turan could flourish up-front for Barca, says Guillem Balague

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Arda Turan appeared set to leave the Camp Nou earlier in the summer but he has silenced the doubters with three goals in two games.

Arda Turan can be the ‘fourth striker’ Barcelona are looking for, according to Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.

Luis Enrique has been persistently outspoken about his desire to sign a new forward as a back-up to Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar but, with just over a week remaining in the transfer window, Barca have yet to strike a deal having missed out on Kevin Gameiro, Luciano Vietto, Nolito and, potentially, Paco Alcacer (below).

However, Balague believes that former Atletico Madrid winger Arda Turan, who has enjoyed something of a renaissance at the Camp Nou after scoring three goals in his last two games, can flourish in a striking role.

“Arda Turan can be the striker that they have been looking for,” Balague said on SkySports’ Revista Bitesize.

“He is more important or effective when is closer to the box so he can dribble and score. 10 out of the 11 goals scored by Barcelona so far this season have been scored by Luis Suarez, Messi and Arda Turan.”

Balague also believes the signings of Lucas Digne, Samuel Umtiti, Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez have allowed Enrique to experiment tactically, moving away from the famous 4-3-3 that underpinned the success of Pep Guardiola and Johann Cryuff at the Catalan giants.

“There are new signings who are fighting for positions. There is a deeper squad, Luis Enrique is going to go from using 12 or 13 players to using more and being confident that they can work for him.

“There’s something else that Barcelona have been doing. They’re not stuck with the 4-3-3 anymore, sometimes it looks like a 4-4-2 or a 4-1-4-1 almost where Messi can do his thing a little bit deeper than usual.”

Messi (below) has starred in a playmaking role in the campaign’s early stages, taking centre-stage as Barca got off to the perfect start in La Liga by thrashing Real Betis 6-2 on Saturday.