Ten years ago, Barcelona were gearing up for the 2015-16 campaign and on top of the world after claiming the treble the year before. But things weren’t completely perfect at the Camp Nou.
Luis Enrique was still blessed with Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at the peak of their powers but he was unable to bolster his squad with reinforcements after FIFA enforced a transfer ban.
Barcelona appealed the decision but were found guilty of “breaching the rules regarding the protection of minors and the registration of minors attending football academies,” and were unable register any new recruits in the summer of 2015 as a result.
However, the Catalan club were still able to sign players and have them train until the ban was lifted in January 2016. That’s exactly what they did, bringing two new faces who had to sit out half a season of action.
Ten years later, we’ve revisited those two signings and checked in on where they are today.
Aleix Vidal
Having rose through the ranks at Almeria before establishing himself as a decent enough La Liga right-back in a solitary season at Sevilla, Vidal appeared a sensible if not entirely inspiring addition to bulk out Barcelona’s squad.
But after half a season on the sidelines, the Spanish defender just never seemed to get any momentum and never really mounted a serious bid to usurp, or one day succeed, first-choice option Dani Alves.
After three years on the fringes, Vidal returned to Sevilla in 2018 and once again found gametime irregular.
It wasn’t until a loan to Alaves in 2019-20, and finally two seasons at Espanyol, in which he started regularly again after spending his would-be prime years warming the bench.
He retired in 2023 and has kept a relatively low profile since hanging up his boots.
Arda Turan
One of the stars of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid team that memorably pipped Barcelona to the La Liga title in 2013-14, the Turkey international never quite reached those levels after moving to the Camp Nou.
Like Vidal, you were left with the impression that six months on the sidelines ultimately didn’t do him much good – especially given Barcelona’s superstar front three meant he’d never get a run of starts.
Ultimately, the hot-headed winger never did anything as memorable for Barcelona as the time he threw a boot in the direction of a linesman in an ill-tempered Copa del Rey clash against them, although he did notch a Champions League hat-trick against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Turan later won the Turkish Super Lig on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir and saw out his career back at boyhood club Galatasaray.
He’s since gone into coaching and led Eyupspor promoted and up to the top half of the Turkish Super Lig. He’s since been appointed as the manager of Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk.
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