DAVID TURNBULL is still dreaming of a move to Celtic, judging by his social media likes today. His transfer to the Champions collapsed after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on how to proceed given the medical report that identified a problem with the teenager’s knee that will require surgery and keep him out of action for approximately 6 months.
Celtic were prepared to take the player now, effectively on loan, sort out the surgery and rehab and then look at completing the £3.25million deal at the end of the season, provided Turnbull made a full recovery. That was not something that Motherwell, who will surely regret their over enthusiasm to rush to proclaim the transfer and update their fans, would not accept.
For Turnbull, he’ll be back to his lower wages at Motherwell, which are a tiny fraction of what he’d have been on at Celtic and remember he was offered even more to go to Norwich. Motherwell have plenty of work to do to get the boy fit and get his career back on track.
Meanwhile on Monday we predicted activity surrounding Christopher Jullien and Luca Connell – who we said was looking likely. You can read that article HERE.
Today, back from his short holiday, Luca rolled up at Paradise to meet Peter Lawwell just as big Christopher was making his way to London to meet up with his agent before the short flight to Glasgow. Fingers crossed for a problem free medical, the fee has been sorted with Toulouse at around £7million – or if you read Herald/ Evening Times, it’s a ‘cut price’ £7million – and terms have been agreed with the player’s agent.
These are two cracking additions. But on David Turnbull you get the feeling that there could be another final twist in this saga. Are we being guilty of looking at this through green tinted spectacles when suggesting that the player would be better off under the guidance of The Celtic staff at Lennoxtown for his rehab – just a matter of facilities, resource and expertise.
David Turnbull could be out for up to 6 months but could be back in 3. Depends on the operation and rehab. A scan found an underlying knee issue which the midfielder knew nothing about, he'd never felt any symptoms.
— Alison Conroy (@AlisonGConroy) June 27, 2019
Celtic wanted to take Turnbull for the season and give him his surgery and rehab. They would then have paid Motherwell the full fee if it was a success. Basically taking him on loan with an option to buy.
— Alison Conroy (@AlisonGConroy) June 27, 2019
And the 19 year old would be be less deflated if he knew he’d have his dream move assured and he’d be earning decent money rather than the development wages he’s been getting at Fir Park.
Surely it makes sense for Celtic and Motherwell to have one last go at this, perhaps Celtic could offer to pay a loan fee which would be deducted from the transfer fee next May, but would be lost if the boy doesn’t recover. Celtic would know better than us if this would be an acceptable risk to take but surely it would make sense?
Connell at Celtic Park? #celtic pic.twitter.com/0sV44wPxqn
— Martin ????????????x3 (@Troublesome1986) June 27, 2019
