Barcelona new boy, Arda Turan, has heaped praise on Lionel Messi, labelling his teammate a “miracle from God” after his hat-trick took the Catalan club back to the top of La Liga.
Turan arrived at the Nou Camp in the summer, but due to Barcelona’s transfer ban, he was only able to make his La Liga debut on Saturday night.
That saw him line up alongside Messi in a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Granada and he was highly complimentary about the Ballon d’Or nominee post-match.
“I have never seen anyone like Leo Messi,” Turan told Turkish newspaper Sabah.
“He is a miracle from God. I like it when he does his things on the field.
“It’s not jealousy – I feel good, for instance, when he nutmegs someone.”
Messi scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes at the Nou Camp, before securing his hat-trick just shy of the hour mark.
Neymar topped the victory off with a fourth in the dying minutes, and furthermore the impressive win took Luis Enrique’s side above Atletico Madrid and to the top of La Liga.
Turan joined Barcelona from Atletico in July and will now be fully focused on helping his new side overcome his old friends this season.
It is certainly a tough ask to slot into Barcelona’s world-beating starting XI, but the Turkish midfielder insists he will show people why he is good enough to play at the Nou Camp.
“Luis Enrique wanted me at Barcelona because of my ability to hold on to the ball, my desire for winning and hard work,” he continued.
“He told me that these are the reasons he wanted me. I will show everyone on the pitch why he wanted me at this team.”
Barcelona face Espanyol on Wednesday in the second leg of their Copa del Rey fifth round tie.
