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Move over, Fergie – nobody slings boots like Arda Turan

Unlike Alex Ferguson, Turan didn’t wait for the privacy of the dressing room before lobbing Nike’s finest in a fit of rage. No, he decided to do it in front of an audience of millions while playing for Atletico Madrid against future employers Barcelona last season, hurling his boot over the head of a linesman, and whiskers away from a startled Gianni Infantino lookalike, after the referee stubbornly refused to award a free-kick for a challenge by Dani Alves.

Turan’s punishment? A yellow card. Throw the other boot and you’re off.

The Turkish midfielder’s Rojiblancos team-mates naturally thought the whole incident was hilarious, presenting him with a specially designed cake in the shape of a football boot when he celebrated his birthday two days later. That’s some swift cake-making.

“I felt like the referee was unfair to us,” Turan explains. “It might be wrong for me to do that but it was normal, because when you feel any injustice it’s human to show some kind of reaction. Of course, after a couple of days it became a joke, but I have no regrets about doing it.”

Turan spent four years with Atletico, winning the Europa League in 2012 and the Copa del Rey a year later before helping them to the league title and 2014 Champions League Final. “It was very tough to leave,” he says. “We were the greatest team in the club’s history. But I’d completed my mission there and sometimes it’s best to leave when you are at the top. Atletico will always be in my heart.”

A recent Champions League defeat to his old club meant the boot was on the other foot for Turan this season. Well, as long as he hadn’t chucked it at someone first...