A year on, Motherwell midfielder and long-term Celtic target David Turnbull finally looks set to complete his move to Celtic. [Evening Times]

The Wishaw raised, Turnbull is reportedly close to a reported £3 million move, which would see him become the North Lanarkshire side’s record transfer sale.

This is also a move that finally looks set to happen after over a decade of interest. The Scottish Champions reportedly made an offer to a nine-year-old Turnbull to join the academy. Clubs such as Rangers and Aberdeen also made offers but instead, he chose to join boyhood heroes Motherwell.

Over the decade, the youngster was one of the best talents in the Well academy. Coming up alongside current team-mate and on-loan Rangers winger, Jake Hastie. Turnbull was chosen after impressing from such a young age to play at the 2014 International Children’s games and represent Scotland.  Two years later at just 16-years of age, Turnbull then featured in the Scottish Youth Cup Final for the Steelmen, in which they defeated Heart of Midlothian 5-2.

After impressing in the academy for almost 10 years, he made his debut for Well in a Scottish Cup victory on the 10th of February against Dundee winning 2-0. His first start and league debut, came in that season in May against Partick Thistle in another win, this time finishing 1-0.

Going into the 2018/19 season, some predicted it could be a breakthrough year for Turnbull and that is exactly what happened.

The season was a slow starter for Stephen Robinson’s men after a successful season the year before which saw Motherwell reach two cup finals. So the Northern Irishmen felt a few changes were needed. One of those was to bring Turnbull into the side.

His first goal of the season came on the 31st of October and his season kicked on from there, playing a huge part in the upturn in form that saw Motherwell go on a good run of results. Due to this form, he ended up signing a new contract running until the summer of 2021. The 21-year old finished this season on 15 league goals in 30 games, which was a superb return for someone of his age in their breakthrough year.

This also saw Turnbull win the Scottish Writers Association Young Player of the Year, voted by Scottish football journalists, who cover the game every week. It made him the first Motherwell player to pick up the award since James McFadden in the 2001/02 season.

Celtic’s interest appeared to start again at this point and it looked like the Hoops were quick in their purchase early on in the window but it certainly didn’t come without drama.

When the club first expressed interest in the player, putting in several bids and having one accepted it looked as though they had missed out yet again on a Scottish talent. Motherwell had reportedly chosen to also accept a bid, from then English Premiership club Norwich City with the midfielder even visiting the training ground down south. But Turnbull admitted his heart was already set on joining the hoops.

So that was the drama over? Not exactly. The deal looked to be home and dry with leaked pictures being released online of Turnbull sitting alongside Neil Lennon, in what was thought to be an interview announcing his arrival.

He has even revealed in a very interesting documentary made by Motherwell, about his return to football, he was so close to the move that he had already been preparing to train and was at Lennoxtown ready to go.

“I came back up that night for a medical and texted Neil Lennon. He said: ‘come in and do some training tomorrow’. Just some light stuff, get me moving.

So I went in to Lennoxtown on the Saturday. Got my new boots, new running trainers, looking forward to training.”

The problems began there, with the medical. Even though there seemed to be a slight issue with his left knee, Lennon felt confident enough the deal would be completed. So just to be sure, the club sent him, with head physio Tim Williamson to Belgium to see a specialist about it.

“I went in, had a meeting with Lennon, spoke to the physio after my medical. He said that something had come up on my left knee but he didn’t think it would be much to worry about. But obviously, it was in the end.

That was the Saturday, on the Sunday got a phone call that I had to go to Belgium on the Monday to see a specialist on my left knee.

My dad was alright but I was trying to get my mum not to panic about it, and I’m obviously panicking about trying to keep her calm.”

Unfortunately, it was worse than first thought. Turnbull was going to need surgery, meaning an extended lay-off. It also led to a standoff between Celtic and Motherwell. The Champions felt as though the medical team should have spotted this before it had to got to this stage. It was reported that they tried to lower the offer in the deal but in the end pulled out, ultimately because of the injury.

“Monday morning, I think it was about 6 in the morning, I got to the airport and met Tim, the Celtic physio. I found out just before the flight to Brussels that actually I was going to need an operation. Tim told me, because he’d heard from the specialist.

That was obviously gutting, that was the first time I heard. He just kind of explained everything, showed me the scans compared to my other knee and what was up.

My agent was still working on it, and I’m sure Motherwell and Celtic were still working on it to try and get something sorted. It was just really down to them, so it was a waiting game. I found out that I had to get an operation and the deal was kind of done. It wasn’t a great feeling to be honest. It was a hard one to take.”

It was such a shame for a player as young as Turnbull. He looked set to move to a big club with the potential of playing European Football and no doubt a bigger wage which could set him and his family up for many years.

Now though, he had to make the choice, whether to get this surgery and take an extended period of time out the game or risk playing with the problems in his knee but his career could be ended by any small knock to his leg. The obvious option he went with was to have the surgery as recommended.

His return to full training came in February of this year after a painful time out watching his team-mate’s early season success, before finally making his competitive return to first-team football as a substitute against St Mirren on the 25th of February. Along with making the return, Motherwell also gave the midfielder a one-year contract extension.

Now, this is where Celtic come in once again. Although Motherwell have started the season on poor form, Turnbull is one, if not the only shining light of that side so far. He has impressed with Celtic scouts and Gavin Strachan being in attendance. He has clearly convinced them and manager Neil Lennon to make a move once again.

Turnbull is a midfielder, in a more similar mould to Oliver Ntcham rather than Ryan Christie, when it comes to play style as a midfielder. He isn’t the greatest or quickest runner in the world but it is his passing and goal scoring ability which impresses most. He has played a role in several positions as a number 8 or as a number 10 behind a lone striker. This would suit Celtic as when Turnbull first broke through he played a key role in these positions in both the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations for Motherwell. Similarly, Celtic deploy these formations regularly.

One of my favourite goals of his really shows one of his best attributes and that is how strong he is with both feet. A goal in which he scored against Dundee perfectly shows that. His first effort with the right-foot comes flying off the crossbar at an incredible pace. The follow-up comes back to him and at the same ferocity, he strikes the ball into the back of the net with his left-foot

A positive that he could add to Celtic is his set-piece deliveries. They were particularly impressive for the 18/19 Motherwell side. With the likes of Christopher Jullien who are huge threats in the opposition box, it is certainly something Celtic could utilise.

Many may make the point that he isn’t a player who will go straight into the starting line-up. However, I feel he could definitely still make an impact on this team and will still see minutes this season.

If Celtic do not snap him up, it is almost guaranteed that someone else will pick a player of Turnbull’s ability, up. I hate to mention his name in this scenario, but it could have a similar outcome to the John McGinn situation. Now, we dont know if he could go on to have the same success, but is it really worth taking that risk.

In a way, he looks to be the replacement for outgoing midfielder Tom Rogic. The Australian is one of the most technically gifted players I have seen at the club, so Turnbull won’t be able to replace him in that sense. But, Rogic has had more than his fair share of injuries so bringing in a talented young player, will be a good deal for a smaller fee to what Rogic will cost the currently ‘unnamed’ Qatari side. It will be sad to see the Aussie magician go, but it may just be time.

Personally, I feel Turnbull will be a smart pick up for not only now but also the future. It is a transfer you feel was an inevitable one sooner rather than later, after Lennon’s interest last year.

It should be interesting to see how Lennon fits the Scotland under-21 international into this squad of players. He will likely be delighted with this business picking up one of the best talents out with the top two in the SPFL. Fingers crossed there are no last-minute hitches to this deal as there was last time and we see Turnbull signed up before our next league fixture, funnily enough against Motherwell.

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