Celtic tipped to let first-team midfielder go in January

Every Celtic fan has heard about the rumours of Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis potentially leaving the club in January, after failing to agree new contracts with the Hoops. But Frank McAvennie believes that they should let a first-team midfielder go as well, as he is not the right fit in Ange Postecoglou’s fast style of football.

Celtic have an impressive line up of midfielders at the moment, consisting of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley and Sead Haksabanovic. Aaron Mooy is starting to get into the mix as well, as he has gained his fitness in recent times and was very impressive at the World Cup for Australia.

One man who has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle though is David Turnbull. The Scottish midfielder was a regular starter for Celtic before the arrival of Postecoglou as manager, but is an impact substitute at best at the moment.

As reported by Football Insider, McAvennie said about the matter:

"“I like Turnbull but in Ange’s side he is just too slow. The way they fling the ball about, everything is quick. Players like that, on the fringe, have got to go to let players come in and fight for a place.“Not just coming in and doing alright but somebody that can stamp their authority like O’Riley did. That is what Ange has got to bring in now.“"

Celtic told to let first-team midfielder go in January

It is pretty clear that Turnbull is not one of the starters in the middle of the park in Postecoglou’s team. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has made 18 appearances this season and played 755 minutes of football in total, scoring 2 goals and providing 5 assists.

That is not a bad output by any stretch of the imagination and it is pretty clear that he can make an impact when he does play.

At the same time though, it is hard to see Turnbull being a starter in Postecoglou’s side at any point in the future unless an injury crisis ends up hitting Celtic. So, while he might be a good option to have around, one has to wonder whether the Scot is happy with the limited amount of minutes that he is getting at the moment.