Barcelona's Luis Enrique confirms he requested Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan

Luis Enrique has confirmed that he had requested that Barcelona sign Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan this summer, although he admitted it was a "problem" that neither would be able to play until January.

Barca tied up the signing of Vidal from Sevilla on June 7, shortly before president Josep Maria Bartomeu stepped down ahead of his bid for re-election, while Turan joined from Atletico Madrid last week.

The Turan deal proved controversial, with Joan Laporta -- Bartomeu's main rival for the presidency -- saying it was "improper" to conduct transfer business before the election on July 18.

Laporta also claimed Barca had only made a move for Turan to "cover up the ridiculousness" of their failure to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus.

Fellow presidential candidates Agusti Benedito and Toni Freixa had also questioned the decision to sign the Turkey international during this interim period, but Bartomeu said that both players were specifically requested by the coach.

Speaking for the first time since the start of Barca's preseason training, Luis Enrique confirmed to reporters on Tuesday: "I made it clear before I went on holiday which players I wanted, and the two players -- Turan and Vidal -- that we considered important have arrived.

"I wanted both to arrive here as soon as possible. I am delighted and I take the opportunity to congratulate Barca's interim management for signing Turan, a key player for us and whom we have a lot of confidence in.

"The ideal scenario that I wanted is the one we have."

However, neither player will be able to represent the club in an official game until January as a result of the FIFA transfer ban imposed on the club.

"This is a handicap and a problem, but because of the importance of the club, the players are willing to accept these terms," Luis Enrique said.

"We will try to have more training games in order to give both of them more minutes in competition."

Luis Enrique, who led Barca to success in the Primera Division, Copa del Rey and Champions League in his first season in charge, is optimistic his side can have another strong campaign.

"I am confident we will have a good year but we will need all of our players to be involved and for all to contribute," he said. "The aim is to repeat the success.

"Normally the second season is better because the base work has been done with the players and all you have to do is to remind them.

"I believe we can improve. The motivation is there to be better than our rivals, to win things and to be continuously evolving in order not to stall.

"We have the option to win three further titles [Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup] because of the Treble-winning campaign."