SCOTT Brown has urged David Turnbull to pledge his future to Celtic - and insisted that Parkhead is the best place for the Motherwell playmaker to further his career.

The Glasgow club agreed a fee of £2.8 million plus add-ons for Turnbull with their Fir Park rivals last week.

However, the 19-year-old, who is also attracting interest from several clubs down south, has still not signed his three year £12,000-a-week contract.

Brown, who joined Celtic from Hibernian in a £4.4 million transfer back in 2007, can understand the dilemma the SFWA Young Player of the Year is currently facing.

But the treble Treble winners’ captain believes Turnbull would be a good acquisition who would flourish in the same way that he and other talented Scottish players have.

“I think he would be fantastic,” he said. “I think it would be the right club to come to given how we develop players into top quality players. Look at myself and James (Forrest), Callum (McGregor) and Kieran (Tierney) all coming through. We are all Scottish lads.

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“We have coaches who have learned under great managers and we have got a great manager as well. It would be a great place for him to come, learn, play in front of 60,000 fans, win trophies and play in the Champions League.”

Brown revealed that he decided to join Celtic 12 years ago after being told that manager Strachan intended to make him a mainstay of the first team.

The 33-year-old, who returned to pre-season training at Lennoxtown yesterday, feels that Turnbull could become a key member of Neil Lennon’s side in future.

“I had options to go down to England, to sign for Celtic and to sign for Rangers,” he said. “I picked Celtic over them all. I spoke with Peter (chief executive Lawwell), I spoke with Gordon and they filled me with confidence that they wanted to build a team around me.

“It is the exact same with Kieran and Jamesey probably – you want to build the team around players like that who are young and willing to learn and fight for the jersey.

“I personally wanted to come and win trophies and play in the Champions League against the best players in the world. That’s why I’ve stayed and enjoyed every single moment of it.”

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Brown has no doubts that Scotland Under-21 internationalist Turnbull will flourish in exactly the same way that he has after being impressed by him during the 2018/19 campaign.

“He has got that winning mentality,” he said. “He has been fantastic in some of the games I have seen him play. He got Motherwell Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and was their top goalscorer. He won everything at Motherwell. You name it he won it.

“He doesn’t get that from having three or four good games, he gets that from having 30 consistent games. I was at that stage myself even though it was a different time and a different situation. But the same club was interested in me. I don’t think there is a better option than to come to Celtic.”

Turnbull’s refusal to sign the contract Celtic have offered him has not been well received by Celtic fans, but Brown can appreciate the situation he is in from personal experience.

He feels his fellow midfielder, who is believed to be looking for wages of £20,000 a week, would be accepted by supporters if he showed the same kind of form as he did last season with Motherwell.

“I had a bid accepted as well and my head was all over the place,” he said. “Sitting chilling, didn’t know what to do, chatting to people. Then I got another bid accepted and then another bid. You’re thinking ‘where am I going to go?’.

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“One person is telling you one thing, someone else is telling you something else. You have an agent phoning you. It’s hard and you have to feel for the kid as well.

“But for me it would be great for him to come along and play with the lads we’ve got here and for a club that’s going places.”

Brown added: “I think they would take to anyone who does really well at the club, with the jersey on. Maybe anyone who comes their head is buzzing but you have to remember he’s only 19 years old, his head and his emotions will be all over the place.

“You have to give him that bit of leeway. There is still time for him to come here and everyone in that changing room would welcome him to come here because we have a great bunch of lads and I’m sure he’d be a great addition as well.

“I think it is great for Scotland that we have got young players like that (Turnbull) coming through. I think the future of the game in this country is looking good for Celtic and Scotland as well. We want everyone to flourish.”