Celtic have missed out on teenager David Turnbull.
Celtic assistant manager John Kennedy has told BBC Sport that there a number of targets being pursued in light of David Turnbull’s move collapsing.
The Bhoys agreed a £3million move to sign Motherwell teenager Turnbull last week, and appeared to be on the verge of signing him.
However, Turnbull couldn’t agree a contract, and after Celtic announced a stalemate on Friday, the deal collapsed for good on Tuesday, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
Turnbull, 19, is now set for Norwich City after a 16-goal season, and his decision leaves Celtic needing to find alternative targets.
Despite needing a major rebuild this summer and the Champions League qualifiers fast approaching, Celtic are still waiting for their first summer signing.
That’s a source of real concern for Celtic fans, and with recruitment chief Lee Congerton moved on to Leicester City, some are wondering whether finding his replacement is holding up transfer business.
Assistant boss Kennedy has tackled the subject, suggesting that the club’s transfer approach is functioning as normal despite no head of recruitment being in place.
Kennedy added that he thinks Turnbull is ‘a good player’ and would have improved Celtic, but they move on to other targets – and reassured fans that Celtic know their targets and will work hard to bring them in sooner rather than later.
“Things are still functioning as normal,” said Kennedy. “What heads of recruitment do, they come in and do what’s right for the manager and the club. They don’t come in and do things their own way. They have a view, an opinion, but ultimately they have to go out and sign players which suit the manager’s style, the club’s structure.”
“We’re a terrific club with a proven record of developing talents, young players. Ryan Christie, Kristoffer Ajer, Odsonne Edouard – they’re all young players who need the game time, need the right platform to develop and become proper players. We thought David could be one of them, but there’s a number of players like that around.”
“We’ve got a number of targets and, if it’s not right for us, we need to move on to our next target and that’s what we aim to do. If he goes and signs for Norwich, good luck to him. He’s a good player, talented player. Everybody knows we need to get a few fresh faces in to help the squad that’s currently here. It’s difficult to put a number on that,” he added.
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