David Turnbull
One of the longest most complex transfer deals in the club’s history finally came to fruition when David Turnbull at last put pen to paper on a Celtic contract towards the end of August 2020.
The Hoops, of course, had made their initial move for the Motherwell youngster over 12 months earlier.
The deal seemed cut and dry when a medical pinpointed the need for a knee operation that ruled out the move and saw him feature just twice for the Steelmen during the 2019/20 campaign as a result.
"Looking back, the injury was the worst time of my life, really," said Turnbull. "It was so hard to take, but I knew that if I worked hard, kept my head down, the chance could come around again, so long as I stuck to it”
However, the club were still keen to pin down one of the most obvious young talents in Scottish football, and the midfielder's further return to first-team action with the Fir Park side, that saw him turn out in five Motherwell matches in the early part of this season, scoring the opener in their 2-2 draw with Livingston, saw Celtic make their move again. This time there were no hitches and he signed on the dotted line with the Hoops.
“I’m absolutely delighted to join Celtic, especially after everything that’s went on over the last year. To join the biggest club in Scotland, I’m just delighted"
After joining the Bhoys on a four-year deal, the talented midfielder's debut came as a substitute in a 5-0 rout of Ross County in Dingwall with a first start for Celtic following a couple of weeks later in a 2-0 away win at St Johnstone.
His first goal was the winner in December's 3-2 UEFA Europa League win over Lille and he also struck in each of the last three SPFL games of that month. Turnbull finished with nine goals scored in his 35 games for the Hoops in his first season.
During his time so far at the club, Turnbull has won 6 domestic honours - the Scottish Cup, the League Cup and the SPFL all twice each.
2021/22 was undoubtedly his best season at the club with the winning of several personal accolades that included the PFAS Young Player of the Year, an inclusion in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year as well as being voted the SPFL Player of the Month for December.
COUNTRY BHOY
David Turnbull made his Scotland debut in the 2-2 draw with The Netherlands in Portugal just prior to Euro 2020, and he was on the bench for two of Scotland's games in the tournament. Prior to that he was a regular at Under-21 level since making his debut in Scotland's 0-0 draw with Mexico U22 Olympic team in Marbella in March 2019. He had previously featured at Under-16, 19 and 20 levels for Scotland.
