Celtic must be prepared to “pay the money” if they want to sign Motherwell midfielder David Turnbull, according to Daily Record journalist Tony Haggerty.
Turnbull has lit up Scottish football since breaking through to his club’s first team in January, with the 19-year-old scoring 16 goals and assisting seven others in 34 appearances in all competitions.
Celtic are reportedly interested in signing the midfielder [Daily Mail], but Motherwell have put a £3million price tag on his services [Daily Record].
Speaking to the Record‘s ‘Record Celtic podcast’ [Monday, 09:30], Haggerty insisted that Neil Lennon’s side must not attempt to lowball their Premiership rivals in the battle to sign Turnbull.
“I’m not surprised that Motherwell have slapped a £3million asking price for him,” Haggerty said. “I’ve seen a lot of David Turnbull and he is the real deal. He’s a terrific footballer.
“His vision, awareness, eye for a pass, eye for a goal, he would improve in a better team around better players because he was the standout performer for Motherwell this season.
“[He was in] a decent team, but he was the pick of the bunch and every time I watched Turnbull I came away thinking ‘wow, you’ve got a great future ahead of you’.
“So, again, Celtic stung with McGinn for refusing to pay £2.75million, the rest, as they say, is history. If you’re going to go in and barter for Turnbull then you make sure you get him.
“If you’ve identified him as a target moving forward, then you have to pay the money because if they lose out to him and he goes somewhere else, he will prove his worth. The boy can play.”
OPINION
Haggerty is right, there is no other option for Celtic than to stump up whatever is required if they are to sign Turnbull. There is no doubting that a player of his quality would improve any side he goes to, let alone Celtic. But they cannot attempt to lowball Motherwell if they want Turnbull at Parkhead. Motherwell are in a great position to get a very good amount of money for their player. They obviously know that either way, someone is going to take him off their hands. But in letting him leave, they have to make sure that Turnbull goes for the highest amount possible, which is why they will not budge in their high valuation. Scoring 16 goals in your first six months of professional football is a terrific achievement and one that has certainly not gone unnoticed, and it will be very interesting to see where Turnbull will be playing come the start of August.