CELTIC won’t “lose any sleep” on failing to land £3million-rated Motherwell midfielder David Turnbull.
That’s the verdict of Hoops assistant boss John Kennedy.
Neil Lennon’s No.2 made it abundantly clear the eight-in-a-row champions are only in the market for players who driven by ambition and not solely cash.
Despite agreeing a transfer fee with the Fir Park outfit, the Parkhead side were unable to thrash out personal terms with the player or his agent having offered something in the region of £12,000-per-week for the teenage playmaker.
Kennedy, speaking to the club website, revealed: “What we want is for players to be hungry and we also want them to come here for the right reasons, not just financially.
“For a 19-year-old coming from Motherwell who has played pretty much one season, the offer we made was very good.
“The reality is that if players come here and do well, they will be rewarded long term as the years progress.
“It all comes down to a player’s idea of what he wants and the representative who is advising him in that respect.
POINTING THE WAY AHEAD…Hoops No. 2 John Kennedy.
“If you do well at this club, the world is your oyster and that’s what we wanted to give him, but they chose not to take our offer.
“It’s not one we are going to lose too much sleep over.
“It’s also not just about talent. You need players with the right mindset who are hungry to come into be successful and be part of something successful.
“Players coming in have to have the right attitude and have the right motives.
“When you do that, normally, you get a good player. It depends on the individual. What’s their motive? What are they looking to get out of it?
“Is it purely financial or do they want to go somewhere where they have a real chance of winning trophies, being successful and developing as a player to become better because I’ve seen it many times?
“Players jump ship to a big club, they don’t play and they fall by the wayside.
“I certainly hope that doesn’t happen to David because he’s a talented player, but it’s also about what’s making the right move for your career and not just financially.
“We were obviously interested in David, whom we rate very highly. He’s done very well at Motherwell.
“The offer we made him was extremely good, actually, for a player at that stage of his career.
“The problem sometimes nowadays is that they want everything given to them before anything is achieved.
“For us, we have a structure to work to. The offer we made to him was extremely good in our eyes, they saw it differently, so we just move on to the next target because we don’t put all of our eggs in the one basket.”
It now looks as though Turnbull will join newly-promoted Norwich City where he is highly unlikely to enjoy the rigorous tests of European competition.
That was his call and that of his agent and Scotland’s title kings will now look elsewhere as they strengthen for the upcoming campaign and the opening Champions League qualifier against FK Sarajevo next month.
