Celtic

Celtic: Russell Boyce laughs off reported Aston Villa bid for David Turnbull

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Image for Celtic: Russell Boyce laughs off reported Aston Villa bid for David Turnbull

Podcaster Russell Boyce has laughed at the rumours suggesting that Aston Villa are preparing a bid for Celtic star David Turnbull during the most recent episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast, suggesting that the club should instead be looking for “£20 million-plus” due to the player’s importance to Celtic.

According to The Scottish Sun, Turnbull is thought to be being eyed up by the Premier League side, who are looking to prise him to Villa Park with a £7m bid, having watched him on numerous occasions in the past campaign.

However, Boyce refused to take the claims seriously, saying:

“£7 million pounds in the English Premier League? That’s the equivalent of like £500,000 to us, it’s pennies.

“We are a selling club, we need to get that in our heads right now, and at no point are we ever going to be in a position we can just turn down anything for anyone.

“We can’t go, ‘oh, take the offer as high as you want and we’ll still reject it.’ That’s not the world we operate in. So if they want to get real and they want David Turnbull, I think you need to be going £20m-plus.

“People can scoff at that all they want. But the fact is, whilst they may not think he’s a £20m player, his value to Celtic equates to that because he’s so crucial for us going forward – that therefore inflates his value. Do people understand that?

“When people hear money associated with players, they think that you’re over-exaggerating the quality, you need to look at the market you’re selling to and what his importance is to our team.”

TIF thoughts on David Turnbull to Aston Villa…

This deal for Aston Villa seems similar to what they’ve completed in the past in John McGinn.

The Scottish Premier League has seen some really gems play there before, most noticeably Virgil van Dijk, who Southampton acquired off Celtic for just £13 million prior to his £75 million move to Liverpool.

Turnbull is just 21 years old and signed for Celtic from Motherwell last summer. The 21-year-old has been important for Celtic, scoring seven goals and assisting five for Celtic. The Scottish midfielder also has a WhoScored rating this season of 7.18, thus portraying his importance for Celtic in what has been an underwhelming league campaign for the Bhoys this season.

Therefore, perhaps Boyce’s comments are justified that £7m would not be enough for Celtic to part ways with the midfielder – particularly so soon after a promising debut campaign at Parkhead.

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