Real Madrid summer signing turned down Barcelona as he was unconvinced by the club’s project

It is no secret that Arda Guler sparked quite the transfer battle between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid during the summer transfer window in 2023.

Barça were intent on securing the teenage prodigy’s services from Fenerbahce, so much so that club director Deco even flew to Turkey to try and tie down the deal.

In the end, though Guler ended up snubbing Barcelona in favour of Real Madrid, joining the Spanish capital club in a deal worth €30 million, including add-ons.

Guler was not convinced by Barcelona

It was reported that Real Madrid only decided to make a move for Guler after learning of Barcelona’s interest in the Turkish wonderkid.

However, according to a fresh update from Mario Cortegana of The Athletic, the Merengues were working on signing the 18-year-old since March last year itself.

Furthermore, sources close to the player indicate that Guler was not convinced by Barcelona’s project owing to their economic instability in recent years.

One of the major concerns for the young talent, as per the report, was the problems that the Blaugrana had been encountering in registering their new signings in recent transfer windows.

All these factors led to Guler ultimately choosing Real Madrid over Barcelona in the summer of 2023.

Having signed for the Catalans’ arch-rivals, the teenager has had a difficult start to life in Spain, with injuries hampering him. He only made his debut this past weekend in the Copa del Rey.