FIRST CHOICE

Brown tells Turnbull that Celtic should be No1 option

SCOTT BROWN last night told David Turnbull that there is no ‘better option’ available to him than signing for Celtic.

The 19-year-old midfielder looked set to become the first signing of Neil Lennon’s second spell in charge when Motherwell accepted a £3million bid from Celtic last week.

But a failure to agree personal terms has ended in an ugly spat, with the Parkhead club going public with their displeasure that their ‘magnificent offer’ had not been accepted while threatening to ‘move on’ if the impasse wasn’t resolved.

Sportsmail understands the matter has not progressed to any great degree over the past 72 hours, although ongoing interest from English clubs in the situation has not yet developed into a counter bid.

Imploring the teenager to consider the long-term positives of joining a club which has won the last nine domestic trophies, Brown urged Turnbull to consider the sporting benefits of signing on the

dotted line. ‘He would be fantastic,’ said Brown. ‘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. We have had fantastic coaches all the way through youth level and now 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.’ Adamant that Turnbull would not only immediately become an important part of the side but would eventually become one of its key assets, Brown added: ‘He has got that winning mentality. ‘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 all that just from having three or four good games, he gets that from having 30 consistent games over the season. ‘You want to build the team around players like that who are young and willing to learn and willing to fight for the jersey. ‘I was at that stage myself (in 2007) 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. ‘I 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.’ Meanwhile, Mikael Lustig’s seven-year association with Celtic looks like it’s over with the Swede believed to be in talks with Belgian side Gent. ‘If he does go, he’ll be missed in that dressing room,’ added Brown. Celtic will find out their first-round Champions League opponent today.