I’ve written a lot of stuff on this site, and especially recently, about the value in our club maintaining a good core of Scottish based footballers.
It is a subject I return to again and again because it’s important to our future.
That’s why today’s news is so good.
David Turnbull has been on our radar for a while, as everyone knows.
I wondered if we might go back in for him.
I didn’t know if he would have a place in the squad, with so many midfield options. But I knew if he did come in that the player most likely to leave would be Tom Rogic.
Over the piece, I think that would be a positive move.
Tom is a great footballer but he isn’t in the team enough, and you watch Turnbull even in his recent games for a struggling Motherwell and you see why we want him.
I agree with Michael Stewart; this isn’t a “project” signing. Turnbull can make an immediate impact.
This club is having a good window so far, in terms of spending money.
Which, I have to be honest, is something of a surprise considering the global health crisis and everything around that. It is possible that we do have ideas about selling a top player, but I discount that. Rogic is probably the one who will go, the only one of the first team squad who will depart.
So what does Turnbull bring us? For one thing, he ticks the box of the Scottish domiciled footballer, which counts in our favour for European qualification. There’s another element too, of course, but it’s deserving of a piece all its own.
Turnbull is the kind of dynamic midfielder who can score goals and unlock a defence. He has the talent to get through those packed lines which we come up against time and time again. This is why I reckon he’s being brought in; he’s the missing piece in the midfield jigsaw.
Turnbull scores goals and sets goals up, but he can also track back and works exceptionally hard.
I’ve watched the highlights of Motherwell’s last few games with a lot of interest. He combines well with a more defensive type player, like his team-mate Campbell who I’ve also expressed a liking for. Put him in a team with guys like McGregor and Brown and watch him go.
This is a transfer move with literally no down side for us.
He will bring a real dynamism to a midfield which, let’s face it, has looked leggy and out of sorts the last few games. He is a team player, he is a grafter, and he is a creative mind and a goal-scorer in the mould of Stuart Armstrong; he’s the kind of player we’ve not had since that boy left us.
And David Turnbull is still only 21. Which means he’s got his whole career in front of him, and all the possibilities that go with it.
Get it done, Celtic. It’s a superb bit of business.
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