CELTIC’S statement on David Turnbull this afternoon was straight to the point but after two weeks of back and forth and protracted negotiations you would have thought the club would seem a bit more aggravated after missing out on their top target. Even more so because they wanted to bring the player in and get him fixed up and back to his best by taking him on an initial loan with a permanent deal to follow.
Unfortunately, Motherwell didn’t want to agree to those terms as Celtic would not guarantee they’d buy the player at the end of the loan deal. However, the Celtic board were not willing to sanction a £3m transfer for a player whose knee could have serious problems going forward.
The statement was respectful and praised both David and Motherwell for how they conducted themselves over the last two weeks which was surprising. They weren’t going to slate Motherwell but they could have merely left that part out altogether.
It’s clear by Celtic’s words that this deal is not completely dead in the water and if the player is fit come January the Celtic board may go back to Motherwell to seal the deal for the midfielder. The club have left things on a positive note for that sole purpose.
