‘Miraculous’: 17-goal star praised for reaction to £3.25m Celtic move collapsing in 2019

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Celtic’s deal for David Turnbull collapsed over the summer.

Celtic are in the market for new signings this month, and Motherwell midfielder David Turnbull may still be on Neil Lennon’s radar this month.

Turnbull, 20, hit 17 goals and nine assists last season, becoming the new star of the future in Scottish football having come through the Motherwell ranks.

Unsurprisingly, his exploits at Fir Park attracted interest, and Celtic moved to sign him over the summer in what proved to be a major saga.

It was on it, it was off, it was on again, it was off again, and then it was confirmed that an issue in Turnbull’s medical had scuppered his £3.25million move (BBC).

Turnbull immediately went for knee surgery, which has kept him out for the season so far. It was quite the unexpected twist for the midfielder, who had played the whole season with few problems, but suddenly needed preventative surgery.

Turnbull hasn’t kicked a ball so far this term, but The Scottish Sun suggested in October that Lennon and Celtic will now back in for him as soon as he is ready.

Now, Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows has told The Scottish Sun that having the Celtic move taken away was ‘mentally tough’ for Turnbull to deal with, but his response has been ‘miraculous’, claiming he has shown incredibly maturity to get his had down and get over his woes.

Burrows added that Turnbull is nearing a return from injury, which may will get Celtic interested again as they look to finally bring the attacking midfielder to Parkhead.

“For all that to be taken away must have been mentally tough for him,” said Burrows. “I think the way he’s handled it and handled himself at the club has been nothing short of miraculous for a 20-year-old boy. He has shown a lot of maturity beyond his years and got his head down and dealt with it. That gives me the utmost confidence that he will come back the player he was because he is so focused on getting back.”

“The hardest part at the club is putting the reins on him really, to make sure he does not go over excessive and doesn’t break down. His progress is going as well as we had hoped at this time. He’s on course and I’m really excited to see the current team adding David Turnbull into the mix. Hopefully fans get to see that in the not too distant future,” he added.