DAVID TURNBULL is on the brink of agreeing a £3million switch to Celtic from Motherwell and the deal could be completed within 24 hours.
One Fir Park star who is not surprised to see the Scotland Under-21 midfielder get his wish to play at Parkhead is the Lanarkshire club’s former captain Peter Hartley.
The defender admitted he had words of advice for his young team-mate when his move to the champions collapsed last summer after a stringent medical discovered knee damage problems that subsequently required surgery and put Turnbull’s career on hold.
Hartley, speaking to the Daily Record, revealed: “I just said to him: ‘Listen Davie, there’s plenty of years ahead of you. Get your head down, work hard and get fit. Control the controllables and everything else will open up for you’.”
Fourteen months on, the ex-Well team leader is delighted to see the powerhouse’s hard work is about to pay off.
Hartley added: “When his move fell through, I had a couple of talks with him, but I didn’t want to dig too deep because I didn’t know what was happening.
“But I told him he couldn’t affect what had happened, but he could get fit and back to the level he was playing at. And he worked hard every single day and he was phenomenal.
“The gym is connected to the physio room at Fir Park and he was in there doing lots of work.
“Boys would be finishing and Davie was still doing single leg squats, strengthening his knee. He’d be in early in the morning and dedicated himself to get back playing.
“So, if he moves to Celtic then, without a shadow of a doubt, he’ll have earned it.
“I’ll be disappointed for Motherwell losing a player like that but pleased for Davie.
“And for him it’s a step in the right direction of moving on again. He’s climbing the ladder and I firmly believe he’ll play in the Premier League one day.
“Having worked with him every single day, I was surprised more Premier League clubs didn’t come in for him last year and it was only Norwich City and Celtic.
“There might have been more, but when I read those two I was amazed there wasn’t a queue of clubs outside Fir Park to sign him because he’s that good.”
Coincidentally, Celtic play Motherwell in the Premiership at Parkhead on Sunday where Turnbull could make his debut.
