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While I am not happy at the prospect of David playing for Celtic (having sadly watched the Old Firm scoop up Dixie Deans, Joe McBride, Peter McCloy, Tom Forsyth all the way to Brian McClair, Phil O’Donnell, even Jake Hastie) I think it may be a long term good option : he will be playing in a league he is already pre-eminent in, will surely gain Scotland caps, will score even more goals and provide more assists, will be seen across Europe (ie a bigger shop window) and will just as likely outgrow Celtic and move on for a fee the percentage of which coming to us will be another big financial boost. He has behaved impeccably and should not be grudged his promotion and also has earned a choice he has yet to make. If he goes elsewhere it will be for more. More to us. If he goes to Celtic I doubt it will be for long and then a bigger move. More to us. So you have every best wish from me, David, whatever way it goes. Thank you.

Love all the captains of industry giving it all the negotiation pearls of wisdom, when you wouldn't send the cunts to the shop to buy rolls.

In the morning light, this situation looks even more short sighted and bewildering than it did last night. Discussed this one with my father last night and his short take on it was that “it’ll drive even more fans away” and I can’t diasgree. We’ve built our entire marketing package for the new season around the ‘young team’ yet we appear more than willing and indeed enabling to disintegrate it before it’s even started (also now reports of McAleer away), therefore what the club have been talking about has become redundant almost immediately. We were in a situation of not immediately requiring to service debt thus flows comments are a little bizarre, considering most larger clubs haven’t begun doing their business yet. This isn’t a move to drive up the price, this is a move to signal that he is going to Celtic, long and short. I saw one comment from flow to suggest that the use for our new found wealth is to be debated however that quite frankly is utter shite. Our preseason starts in two weeks and with the best will in the world, if you’re prepared to sell our best player and biggest asset on the cheap, you better have a plan on what to do next; same in any industry. An overall disillusioned support are only going to be satisfied with one thing now and that is faces coming through the door whom they either know or have proven pedigree, a failure to do that and we could see a lower opening crowds than ever before. This is a squad already bereft of quality and who’s one spark of, was Turnbull. With that now gone and no obvious plan of what’s next, I’m deeply concerned about next season and the clubs mentality. Yes, the stadium need work and I’m sure the academy needs and deserves money however I, like many others, pay to the well society and attend matches to see a decent team on the park and be entertained. I don’t expect to watch Barcelona however I also don’t expect to watch the Conference league south or indeed the Scottish championship in 2 seasons. Edit. A second point of discussion. We have quite clearly, brought in some chunky sums from player sales over the last 18 months. Moult, Hennegan, Kipre, Hastie (TBC). We’ve yet to see any of this reinvested in the playing squad in terms of bringing in players with a better base level of quality than those above when they were originally brought in. Shouldn’t that lead us to believe that we’re highly unlikely to see and detour from Robinson’s original targets which are inevitably Lower league English players, even with this higher lump sum.

Seeing as its the only place our fabled "Head of Recruitment" is capable of scouting, does anyone fancy having a look through North East English Non League Clubs to see who we are gonna bring in to replace Turnbull and stop us freefalling into the Championship next season? The club better pull something special out because with the way we are punting off our best prospects with McKinstrey away and possibly MacAleer following closely, we might not have any Young talent to chuck into the team in January to rescue us like Robbo did this year!

All this angst and sudden outpouring of animosity towards the board and club because we sold a player we all knew would never start the new season in a well shirt. Does anyone really think if we had waited till transfer deadline day we would suddenly get a £5 million bid for Turnbull from a top English team, or would it be the same as we have now, let's be honest there was never going to be a bidding war. So what difference does it make selling him now or 6 weeks from now, when there might not have been a deal on the table. If the figures are to be believed it's a club record transfer fee, with good add-ons, that could see the club debt free and on a stable financial footing for years to come, and there are still people moaning about it.

It is like I have been in a deep sleep and awoken to fine out that we have by far and away the best youth development in the top flight. A long way to go to get the money Hibs and DDee United got for their crop of starlets but we are making a decent fist of it. Turnbull could end up earning us £4m + if he is sold on. Gutted he has gone but we cannot turn that kind of money down. But you have Premiership and Championship clubs fighting over players I have not heard of. £400k for McKinstry and now Reece McAlear interesting West Ham and Leicester if today’s news is to b believed. Kudos to our wee club. I got to assume Craigan deserves some credit for this. Long may it continue. As a fan owned club we rely on this type of revenue. Would love all these players to realise their potential with us, but equally pleased and proud of this news coverage over the past month or two.

I’d rather stay in my current seat and see what a £1M upgrade can pay for on the park. Tie down a few of the younger players on decent long term deals and buy one or two more proven players with potential. Agree about upgrade but think it could be done in a couple of years with cash from further sales.

Yep, this patter is pissing me off as well. Not enough through the gates regularly enough is the reason we have to sell to be sustainable in the first place - the irony. I'm sad to see turnbull leave but realistically we were never going to reject 3M plus. I'm more surprised celtic played ball tbh.

Like everyone else, I was gutted when I read the news that Celtic had a bid accepted. I'm proud of our wee club (not offensive, realistic) producing a player of Turnbull's standard. If he's already outgrown Motherwell and needs to take the next step to progress his career, he goes with my best wishes. I had hoped that the next step would be an English club, or one further abroad, that would give him game time and help him become a firm fixture in the national team. The Old Firm disgust me. I won't go into the litany of reasons why because they are self-evident. I see a lot of criticism of the club for doing business with 'them'. The fact (something that is sparing in this thread) is that we are in debt and this fee will clear that debt. Once we're debt free, and only then, can we then debate the merits of keeping our best players, when to sell, etc. The decision from the club isn't questionable. What I've barely seen acknowledged yet is someone else's decision...the player himself. If Turnbull honestly thinks signing for Celtic is the right move for him then he is badly misguided. That's not the fault of Burrows or anyone else at the club. No one, I'm sure, is forcing Turnbull to sign for Celtic. He's a grown man and has a choice to make. For his career's sake, I hope he doesn't think Neil Lennon and being knocked out of the Europa League group stages is the answer. If he does, that's on him.

You know me Busta, I've been going since the 80s. I'm more than aware that we need to sell players, every now and again, and that Turnbull was never going to play for us next season. However, I reckon I've just about had enough of watching us sell every decent asset we ever seem to get a hold of, just as quickly as a larger team gets the cheque book out. The selling of Turnbull, to a team in the same league, a team that continually decimates other teams, a team that continually shouts about lack of a domestic challenge, a team that is supported to the neck by absolute wankers, and many from around here. This isn't just a knee-jerk reaction to Turnbull leaving for Celtic (if indeed that happens), its years and years of the same sort of stuff, and years of watching our pish poor, unequal league. No doubt I'll end up buying my season ticket, but this constant rebuild year on year, is getting on my tits, as is dealing with a Club, who I wouldn't pish on.

As much as I hate that he'll be going to Celtic I can't believe some of the responses on here. Well I suppose I can but it is still an amazing read. Celtic are the only team that bothered to match our asking price. Sure some others may match it before the deal is done but no one else has yet. Talk of not renewing season tickets and never goin back is fucking wild. How long have you been Motherwell fans? 9 months? You may say how sick of the OF taking Motherwell players over the years but you surely understand that these sort of transactions are vital. If he was moving to Barnsley for £3m+ I am pretty sure no one would give a fuck never mind the chat of not renewing/never going back.

This thread has been a hilarious read. Glad to see one or two sensible heads in there, though. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Lots of hyperbole and conjecture on here and facebook. So let's look at what we know about this and what we can reasonably infer. If his agent is worth his salt he probably made sure when he was offered improved terms last season that a release clause was put in place Celtic got their fingers burned with McGinn last summer so aren't going to pinch like they did It looks like Celtic's latest offer has triggered a release clause and consequently Turnbull can speak to them regarding personal terms, it is far from a done deal This will no doubt spur those who have expressed interest into action who maybe thought they'd deal with this in July or August If another club matches or eclipses Celtic's bid then the club will inform the players agent that they are now preferred bidder and its again personal terms Flow despite being a Well fan first is responsible as a company director by the rules and governance pertaining to that role He does not want to sell a prized asset to another team in this league due to a few things, firstly the fan fallout as we are witnessing There is the potential for the player to come back and haunt us Finally the perception that more money will be forthcoming from a team in England Read between the lines of the press release, it is not purely an announcement that he is in talks with Celtic, its a call to action to other interested parties to get their finger out and dig deep Yes it would be nice if he stayed for 18 months more and went for 7 figures in January 2021 however that is not going to happen so let's all move on from that wishful thinking Nobody has really considered if he is a homebody and wants to stay locally, is willing to be hated by half the population of Scotland due to his employer, fancies the challenge of a move down south, etc. That will influence his move Lets all pray for a bidding war

This deal worries me! Will be an undisclosed fee so we will never know the true value, as it will be paid in installments over years, I seriously doubt Celtic will be paying us anywhere near £3m. And no mention of a sell on clause is horrendous business. As a Club we have sold Moult, Kipre, Johnson, Hastie, Heneghan, McKinstrey & now Turnbull for more than £7m combined over the last 2-3 years and the fans have watched as yet more cheap non league dross has replaced them. The club MUST spend a decent chunk of money on serious replacements because at this minute we are right where Dundee Utd were 3 years ago! Losing Hastie & Turnbull could be catastrophic if we arent smart. Yes its great clearing the debt, but not so great when we are then relegated to spend several years in the Championship where we either rack up more debt or worse! If it truly is £3m , we do have a sell-on clause and we spend wisely on good quality replacements, then Yes it will be proved to be a very good deal, but as of this moment I am seriously concerned

Celtic are most definitely our rivals. We may not be competing with them to win the league but if we are to have any success, be it qualifying for top 6, Europe, avoiding relegation or winning a cup then we need to be looking for wins against them the same as we would any other team in Scotland.

When the Chief Executive, who is a Motherwell fan, says that the club have been working for weeks for the best offer they can get for Turnbull and this is it and some fans think there is a better offer out there, I despair. Do I want it to be Celtic who offered most for Turnbull? Not at all. Do I believe the club when they say it's the best deal on offer? Why would they lie? Why would Motherwell fans on the board accept a deal that wasn't the best on offer? If we receive £3m for a guy that has started 30 games for Motherwell, that has to be a good deal...

Not saying he won't end up going there, but a number of clubs have contacted us and asked what it would take to buy him, and each have been told a figure. Celtic appear to have been the first to come back and say "okay then". Again I'm not saying that he won't end up at Parkhead, but it clearly says a fee has been agreed, not a deal. We could agree a fee with any number of clubs, and then the player looks at them all and decides where he wants to go.

Definitely soft cunts.

Oh, I think they have confirmed quite a lot.......Deal or no deal They have confirmed that Celtic met the Club's valuation. They have confirmed they have given Turnbull permission to speak to Celtic. They have confirmed they turned down unacceptable offers of around £2m. They have confirmed "achievable" add ons totalling £250k. They have confirmed that the sale is with a view to securing a future without debt . They have confirmed funds will be utilised to create a stronger base for development under fan ownership. . Confirmation that the deal would also provide additional income if Celtic cash in would not be amiss. And if it is all just about geeing up other interested parties, then suggesting add ons including a sell on clause had been agreed with Celtic would be a good move.

Remember when we sold Ally Mauchlen ( club captain) and Gary McCallister to Leicester City for a combined fee of £250k just before the season started Our best player and a promising youngster ……… something just never change Was raging at the time but life goes on ………… still supporting the Well and am sure once all this Hullabaloo cams doing everyone will still be cheering the boys on Shite happens

Have read the thread form the moment the news broke. Have a few thoughts. My opinion is that we should keep him for at least another year. Yes, I know the talk of gentlemens agreement etc. Turnbull said himself when he signed a new contract that he had other offers. He wanted to play for Motherwell. Then there's talk of a gamble in not accepting Celtic's bid. Yes, he could get injures or have a loss of form. However, chances are he will be a better player next season, having had most of a season under his belt this year. The way we played since January has convinced me we could push for the top 6. if we keep our best players. Another argument is that we need the cash. We always need cash. That doesn't change. I know we have debts, but lets be honest, they are interest free and neither Boyle or Les are beating down the doors to get their cash back. I want to go to Fir Park and watch good football, especially if the talented players are homegrown. If we don't get a chance to watch then, what is the point? It's just subsisting at the most basic level. I know he's not away yet. I think he is too good for the SPFL. He should go abroad to a more technical league. He IS THAT good. The club always talk about being fan owned. If that is the case we deserve to know the full facts of the deal. For me, Undesclosed feels like a slap in the face. (Just my opinion). I agree that we would not be having this debate if the bid had come from anyone other than the old firm. However, If the club agreed to sell DT for a set fee and we have viable plans for the club, let's here them so that we can have a balanced view. I'm going for a lie down now.

I wouldn't sell them in the first week of the transfer window.

Hold off for a wee while longer

£3million quid for 19 yo Scottish midfielder who has played 30 games and doesn’t come from the old firm or an English club dont think there are many that have done that in the past lets put this into perspective. I can only think of Ryan Gould off top of my head and maybe Andy Robertson What we are getting is a good deal i don’t see how anyone else can see that it’s not, regardless of who he signs for

There's the reason fees are 'Undisclosed'... Every agent and club will know we've just came into £3million and the wages and fees increase as a result. Fees are undisclosed for a number of reasons, to hide information from fans is nowhere near the top.

It's obviously only when we are selling players that there's a fixed price! It's dynamic prices when we are buying

Mickey Johnstone or Lewis Morgan can get tae fuck

Incredibly disillusioned with the Club at the moment

That's all that's happened, and it's happened with several clubs. If Celtic are the only one that have gone with the first set of answers...what do people want us to do? Say "no because its you"? Respond to the initial question with "well how much are you willing to pay"? Absolutely mental stuff.

I hope we don't sell him till 5 mins before the transfer deadline closes, there are enough people on this forum on the verge of a meltdown over Turnbull.

As suggested earlier, I’m pretty sure we have ‘dealt’ at a pre-agreed release clause figure that would have been part of his most recent contract renewal. Why do fans always have to see the negative in everything. We are £3M to good, which is huge for a club like us. Yeah it’s a shame we won’t get to watch him pull on claret and amber again, but we can be very proud that he was a product of our youth system as he goes on to hopefully have a glorious career in football.

Les, Boyle, Derek Weir and Jim McMahon all have/had a security over the ground for the debts owed. Once that debt is paid off it will be removed.

So let's put this 3 million we have now under Burrows bed and only use it when and if needed . Aye a Saturday at FP will be right exciting watching Grimmy running about like a heedless chicken that will be the only thing worth watching .Robinson better start get some quality in or we will struggle

I can't understand why folk are saying he wants to play on a bigger stage. He'll be playing in the same pishy league as he would've been if he stayed with us. He'll just be getting paid a lot more money for doing it. Classic reason why our league is so weak as the OF continue to hoover up any decent players from other clubs.

Well done Flow for getting him to sign an extended contract in the first place and thanks to Turnbill for signing it. Both have got the club £3million quid. Would have been easy for him to do a Hastie and get a huge sign on fee for himself. Both have done the best for the club. I can only imagine the rage and outcry if he went to Celtic on a free like Hastie did to Rangers. Its the real world the club has to operate in ffs.

No one on loan from teams in the same league please...

My response to those who say that the club could have waited is simple: losing Turnbull now allows us time to plan for life without him. Lose him two days before the window closes suddenly planning becomes much more difficult. Club are often praised for getting their business done early so we can prepare for next season. That works both ways..

The likelihood is that there would have been a gentleman’s agreement on an acceptable transfer fee when we prevented Turnbull doing a Hastie. The club have played fair by the most talented player to come through the system in decades. It’s the way we have to be if we want to continue enticing the best young kids to sign for us. Regarding timing, there was absolutely no way a player of David’s ability was going to stay at Motherwell beyond this summer. He is just too good for us. So surely, it’s better a deal is a agreed now than transfer deadline day? From the outside, all parties appear to have conducted themselves impeccably. The challenge now is to invest the money wisely in the coming years by identifying and developing the next Marvin, Moult, Kipre, Turnbull etc.

Some people need to move out of fantasy land where half the Premiership wanted him for funny money and get back into the real world. The bheasts have bid far in excess of what anyone else has and it's too much to knock back Three cheers for their John McGinn saga last season or we'd be getting less

I thought they had already turned down other offers ? 1.2 to 2 million mentioned. If it’s 3 million plus add ons it’s what many on here though was fair.

I suspect the club won't announce the fee. Selling him to a club who's fans regularly wreck our ground, who's players cheat us and who's manager publicly castigated Bowman, James Scott and Burrows in the middle of June is ridiculous. There should be a Celtic premium for all the shite we have to put up with from them over the past two years.

No idea what clauses were in the 2 and a half year deal he signed but it's worth bearing in mind that during January the rumours were that his agent didn't want him to sign any extension with us. If that had happened Turnbull would also be walking away in the same way as Hastie, leaving us with either a development fee or, worse still, wondering what we'd end up with from an SPFL tribunal. In that instance just getting £3million and add-ons would have seemed like a bit of a result!

What role do they play in the club?

Tom Boyd will be the first one in. Followed by Davie Hay. Tommy Sheridan will be the master of ceremonies.

When Turnbull signed his new contract, a release clause was obviously agreed. Motherwell have since been fairly public on our strategy. Credit to Celtic, they’ve obviously learned from the McGinn saga and have offered the requested amount without messing us about. It remains to be seen if David actually signs for Celtic. Personally, I think his development would be better suited to a Bournemouth/Southampton and that would obviously benefit Motherwell with regards future sell on value. Nevertheless, I wish him all the best whatever he chooses and I can’t wait to see him starring for the national team.

Regardless of where he goes, it looks like we're getting the much-touted £3 million, and then some add-ons apparently. That's going to change the game for us as a club, and that's something that's more important than one player.

Pish, the club always needs money to clear debts, improve the stadium, develop more Turnbull's etc etc so all they have done is maximise the return on a very sellable asset.

Have a look at yourself, do you think for a minute that if there had been better or similar offers from English clubs they would have said no we want to sell him to Celtic FFS I think not. Lots of chat about interest from England but obviously no firm offers, so he's off to Celtic, as they obviously met our asking price, £3m plus add-ons which if he fulfills his potential could double that figure, so potential life changing cash for the club.

Some of it should go to Craig Thomson’s retirement fund, Just to make sure he doesn’t come back.