Motherwell CEO Alan Burrows has said that clubs interested in signing midfielder David Turnbull must pay “significantly more” than what is currently being offered.
An earlier report from the Daily Mail claimed that Celtic were planning to submit a £1.2million bid for the 19-year-old, who shone in his breakthrough season at the Lanarkshire club.
Writing on his official Twitter account, however, Burrows said that those keen on taking Turnbull away from Mothwerwell will have to stump up more cash to do so.
Getting some questions re David Turnbull, given today’s newspaper report. I try not to reply to speculation (for obvious reasons), but to reiterate what I’ve already gone on public record as saying. We will only consider offers of significantly more than our record fee received.
— Alan Burrows (@Alan_Burrows) May 31, 2019
“Getting some questions re David Turnbull, given today’s newspaper report,” the Burrows wrote. “I try not to reply to speculation (for obvious reasons), but to reiterate what I’ve already gone on public record as saying.
“We will only consider offers of significantly more than our record fee received.”
OPINION
Well, at least Celtic have a concrete answer to their reported queries about the player – that they will have to pay a lot more than £1.2million if they want to prise Turnbull away from his current club. And rightly so, the midfielder was fantastic in his breakthrough season. In 34 appearances last term, he scored 16 goals and provided seven assists, which – for a 19-year-old – is some going and shows exactly why there are clubs out there wanting him in their teams. From Burrows’ latest comments, the likely outcome is that Celtic would be put off from bidding a large amount of money for Turnbull. They may go a little higher than their initial reported bid, but if – as the Daily Mail report quoted earlier says – Brighton are interested too, it is also likely that the Seagulls will win any bidding war given their superior spending power in the Premier League. Regardless, Turnbull is a very exciting player and it will be interesting to see where he will be playing come the start of the new season.