THEY think it’s all over . . . it is now!
The David Turnbull transfer saga in the past week or so has had more twists and turns than the Monaco Grand Prix circuit that Lewis Hamilton and his fellow Formula 1 racing drivers visited last month.
But it is finally, with Turnbull deciding that Celtic, not Norwich City, is the best club for him to further his career at and realise his vast potential, now at an end.
The Motherwell playmaker is set to be paraded at Parkhead this afternoon after completing a medical and signing a four year contract on significantly better terms than those he was originally offered.
READ MORE: Would signing David Turnbull benefit Celtic, or the player? Here's what the stats say
Provided, that is, there are no last-minute hitches or late changes of heart . . .
However, is joining the treble Treble winners the best move for the midfielder? Would committing himself to Premier League boys Norwich have been a better option for him?
This is the quandry the youngster and his representative have been wrestling with in recent days. Have they made the correct choice?
Personally, I think the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year has done the right thing.
The gifted youngster, who scored 15 goals in 30 appearances last term, could have gone to Carrow Road, forced his way into Daniel Farke’s team and shone.
Kenny McLean has certainly done so since moving to Norfolk from Aberdeen last year.
But it would have been a big ask for the 19-year-old to leave home and play in the top flight down south in the 2019/20 campaign.
READ MORE: David Turnbull undergoing medical at Celtic Park and £3.25m move will be completed today
He could just have easily have struggled to cope with the step up and standard, been out of his depth in games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City and stagnated.
Many promising Scottish players have crossed Hadrian’s Wall in recent seasons without having the necessary maturity or experience to deal with the physical and mental demands on them and have never really recovered.
The same, of course, can be said for kids who win moves to Celtic after catching the eye at smaller provincial clubs.
Turnbull will certainly find the expectations on him to perform to a high standard and win games will be far greater in the East End of Glasgow than they were in North Lanarkshire.
But it will be less of a culture shock for him than joining Norwich would have been.
The Scottish champions also have a good track record with young players from this country – Ryan Christie, James Forrest, Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney are all first team regulars.
Elsewhere, Kristoffer Ajer, the Norwegian centre half, is another talented prospect who has benefited from his move to Parkhead.
Celtic have enjoyed phenomenal success domestically and enjoyed some fine results in Europe in recent seasons thanks to having a Scottish spine to their team.
They clearly see Turnbull as an individual who can help them to maintain that for many years to come and will be eager to develop his considerable talents.
He will, with Christie, McGregor and Tom Rogic all in the Celtic squad, certainly have stiff competition for a start. But he is good enough to feature going forward.
His new manager Neil Lennon, too, likes to give kids game time as we saw last season when he handed Karamoko Dembele his debut at the tender age of just 16.
Turnbull could well end up playing in the Premier League in England at some point in what promises to be a glittering professional career.
But at this particular point in time he is better off at Celtic.
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