THE David Turnbull transfer saga may have finally come to an end with the Motherwell player choosing to join Celtic and not Norwich City.

But the lad will still find the whole unfortunate affair sticks in the minds of a number of the Parkhead club’s supporters when the new season gets underway.

Because he rejected the initial terms that he was offered and because he then went and spoke to Norwich, he will find he has to win over a fair few of the fans.

Celtic supporters normally welcome new signings with open arms. But some of them might be a bit cynical about their latest acquisition when he plays. He will have to deal with that.

Turnbull will find himself under more scrutiny than he would have been if he had just accepted the contract that was first put on the table.

He has made a rod for his own back. Between them, he and his agent have given him a hurdle that he has to clear immediately.

Turnbull will get a few people who will ask: ‘Why didn’t he agree to join in the first place?’

But if he can play in a few first team games, do well and score a couple of goals all will be forgotten and forgiven.

And now he has finally made up his mind, he can concentrate on playing as well as he possibly can.

Celtic have come in for a fair bit of criticism in recent days and their pursuit of Turnbull compared to their failed attempt to bring in John McGinn from Hibernian last season.

But that has been unfair. This is different. The stumbling block with McGinn was the transfer fee that Hibs wanted. At the last minute, because of that haggling, they missed out on him.

In this case, Celtic have offered the figure that Motherwell were looking for and then offered the player the most they could afford. I think they really went the extra mile.

If the figures I have heard are correct, Celtic appear to have offered more money than he is, at this moment in time, worth. But his agent was looking for more.

I am not against somebody trying to get the best deal they possibly can, but a bit of realism has to come into it. He will find that if he performs well his salary will increase as a result.

I sincerely hope that Turnbull develops into the player that Celtic clearly believe he can become. But at this stage all he is a good prospect.

I am pleased he has agreed to join Celtic. A good young Scottish footballer is staying in the country. He did exceptionally well last season and scored some good goals.

But no youngster can be guaranteed a first team game. He has to believe in himself and show good form to get a start.

I think he has probably looked at Norwich and thought that taking on Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City is probably too much for him at this stage in his development and decided Celtic is a better option. But he should have realised that before going there.

People might say this episode could have been avoided by Celtic. I think in the past it might have been possible to conduct business discreetly, but in this day and age I’m afraid that doesn’t happen. To give Celtic a hard time about how this has been handled is harsh.

Celtic have done well with predominantly Scottish players in recent seasons and Turnbull coming on board gives them a chance to retain that spine to the team for a number of years to come.