A year ago David Turnbull was coming to terms with the news that a life changing move had just collapsed. He faced surgery to save his career on a knee condition that he had no idea about when he finished the 2018/19 season as one of the most talked about players in Scottish football.
The midfielders form had brought about a bid from Celtic that was over a million pounds more than Motherwell’s previous record fee. His agent had been fishing around in England with an offer on the table from Norwich City before he underwent a medical.
On Sunday Turnbull will come under the watch of Neil Lennon as Celtic face Motherwell in a friendly match. It’s the perfect opportunity for the 21-year-old on a number of fronts, to demonstrate his fitness and to prove himself against the best midfielders in the country. Turnbull made two finrst team appearances before Lockdown and underwent further surgery on his knee condition.
The last five months have completely altered the transfer environment. The old norms are dead, the new ones have still to be established with very little activity across Europe.
At this stage Celtic don’t have a need or a place for Turnbull, that could change completely in 12 months time. Lennon has other transfer priorities right now but he’ll keep an eye out for Turnbull on Sunday with just one week to go until the quest begins to secure a tenth, record breaking Scottish title.