How Arda Turan fared in his Barcelona debut

How Arda Turan fared in his Barcelona debut - Arda Turan has twiddled his thumbs for six long months. The former Atletico Madrid midfielder was bought by Barcelona on July 6, but has had to sit out due to the club's transfer ban. In the starting line-up for the first time on Wednesday, he showed signs that he will fit in just nicely.

Luis Enrique surprised some by handing a start to Turan in a mouth-watering midfield alongside Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in front of him.

An intense derby clash against a very physical Espanyol side was never going to be the easiest of debuts for a player who is virtually without competitive football - aside from international appearances - since the summer. But Turan started brightly as he linked up well with his team-mates in the early stages and came close to an opportunity on goal as Pau Lopez nicked the ball from his feet in the area.

The 28-year-old popped up all over the midfield and made some clever runs further forward, almost scoring a debut goal in the second half as his angled drive was parried by Lopez. Generally, he participated in Barca's best passing moves, although he will look for an improved understanding with his team-mates in the future. Early signs, however, were positive.

Turan played 68 minutes in total and needs more to step up hs overall match fitness and conditioning. In his time on the pitch, the Turkish international attempted 43 passes and completed 35 at a ratio of 81.4%. That was lower than the rest of the starting XI against Espanyol and he did give the ball away more than would be expected, but the stat does not take into account the difficulty involved in making a pass.

Arda is not known necessarily for his defensive contribution, meanwhile, but he worked hard and made four tackles, as well as going in for 16 challenges. He also lost the ball 12 times, a number that seems high but is in fact lower than Messi, Neymar and Suarez. He also regained possession five times and won three free-kicks.

"I liked both Arda and Aleix (Vidal)," Luis Enrique said of the two debutants after the match. "Arda adds dribbling, vision, solutions. Aleix didn't play a lot, but he did well."

He was right. Turan adds another dimension that Barca have lacked and the beauty is that he can fill in for both of the two key players who left the Catalan club last summer - Xavi in midfield and Pedro in attack.