I’LL PROVE I’M STILL A £3M MAN
Midfielder aims to show his injury woe is over and repay Motherwell’s faith in him
DAVID Turnbull is having to reconcile himself with the fact that he is now a footballing curiosity. For all that an unforeseen issue with his knee put paid to his chances of joining Celtic from Motherwell last summer, a £3.25million fee had been agreed between the clubs.
Even though the cheque was never posted and Turnbull remained at Fir Park throughout surgery, rehabilitation and the signing of a new contract until 2022, one thing remains unchanged. In the eyes of the watching world, he is already a multi-million pound footballer.
Back in full socially-distanced training in South Lanarkshire this week after a couple of run-outs from the bench prior to football shutting down in mid-March, the 20-year-old would be entitled to view the hefty price tag on his back as more of a curse than a blessing.
Because like it or not, after the extraordinary sequence of events that played out last summer, his every move will now be subjected to microscopic scrutiny.
Back at square one, he now has to justify the hype that so very nearly had him striding purposefully ahead in the game.
‘A lot of people will be asking that question and there will be a lot of spotlight on me to perform,’ he admitted. ‘But that will push me even more and make me try to prove to everyone that I am the same player and can still perform at the same level.
‘I want to get back playing week in and week out. It has been a horrible year but that is at the back of my mind and I don’t think about it any more. I want to get back playing at Motherwell and give my all.’
Turnbull doesn’t appear to harbour any regrets about those whirlwind few weeks that saw Norwich and Celtic compete for his signature before a scan scuppered it all — and it’s not difficult to take him at face value.
For starters, he doesn’t turn 21 until next month, so there is hardly a rush to fly the nest. Almost inevitably, further lucrative offers will come.
More significantly, however, he now knows he should have another 14 years in the game.
Had the ticking time bomb in his knee not been discovered when it was, he could well have been looking at a much bleaker scenario.
‘It’s been a strange year but it helped me in the long term, given what was wrong with it,’ he reflected. ‘I hope everything is fixed and that I can kick on now.’
The suspension of all football due to the pandemic curtailed his comeback but came with a minor consolation.
‘It probably actually helped me long term as I had to get my screws out at the end of the season,’ he explained.
‘So it meant I could get that done sooner and I’ve not really missed anything. I would probably have missed the start of the season, so this has maybe been good for me.’
Asked if the legacy of the surgery might be a psychological scar that could inhibit him on the field of play, he countered: ‘Not at all. I probably had one of the best surgeons possible.
‘I’m back training and every bit of running and football I’ve done since I’ve been back feels perfect, feels brand new. Obviously there was something wrong with it as I wasn’t feeling it at the time, so it’ll just feel normal again.’
So advanced was the deal to take him to Parkhead that an unofficial picture even surfaced of the midfielder sat in the boardroom wearing a green and white jersey.
After a breakthrough season at Fir Park, no one had the slightest idea that such a serious matter had gone undetected. It felt like a bomb had dropped.
‘It was a big shock,’ he admitted. ‘I was playing out my skin every week and then suddenly to be told that was weird.
‘At the time, it was tough to take but I had to listen to medical advice and do what they said was right. I had to get it operated on as soon as was possible and it’s probably helped me in the long run as well.’
The experience challenged him in many respects but afforded him a fresh sense of perspective.
‘I’ve learned lots,’ he insisted. ‘The banter with the boys, training every day… I won’t take that for granted. You feel like you’re missing out on a lot of things and it’s tough to take but it’s probably made me a better person as well and more grateful for things.’
That he was already a headstrong individual could be gathered from his polite rejection of a move to the English Premier League, which came prior to Celtic getting serious with their interest in him.
‘Norwich came in out of the blue,’ he said of a proposed move to Norfolk.
‘Celtic had been there for a few weeks. We were getting further on but I went down to Norwich to have a look around. It was nice to do that and it looked brilliant but my heart was set on where I was going.’
Were the Parkhead club to return to the table any time soon, it would not come as a major surprise.
Turnbull, though, appreciates that his future will only be determined by living in and focusing on the here and now. He feels he owes Motherwell and intends taking a blinkered approach to making regular repayments.
‘The way the club have treated me through everything, they have been brilliant,’ he said. ‘They looked after me way more than they should have, on and off the field.
‘I just can’t wait to get back out there playing for them and I am sure I can get back to the levels I was at before the operation. I want to try and repay them a little for what they did for me.’
August 1, the date pencilled in for Scottish football’s return, will not come a moment too soon for Turnbull.
‘It’s been far too long,’ he sighed. ‘I’ve missed the feeling — the Friday before a game, the preparation you put into a Saturday, whatever you eat, the things you do before the games, getting up on a Saturday and not having the lie-in that I have had for the past year.
‘That will all be a bit strange, but I really can’t wait to get going again.
‘To get the No8 shirt …I’ve kind of grown up (wanting that) or the No 10. But obviously that’s been retired at Motherwell. So I’m buzzing to get it.’