Cardiff City facing £2m transfer regret - Celtic FC must be laughing to the bank | OneFootball

Cardiff City are yet to see a major 2024 investment come to fruition

When Cardiff City completed the deadline-day signing of Celtic midfielder David Turnbull on the final day of the winter transfer window in February 2024, excitement and anticipation was afoot throughout the Welsh capital.

The Bluebirds forked out a £2 million expense, despite Turnbull having been poised to find himself out of contract at Parkhead that coming summer, and had landed the services of an international-grade midfielder with impressive club-level pedigree.

Turnbull's production levels at Scottish giants Celtic, who acquired his signature from Motherwell in August 2020, had gradually regressed following an eye-catching debut campaign, which had seen him register nine goals and seven assists from 34 appearances across all competitions before breaking into the national team.

He managed to record double figures in goals the following season but went somewhat off the boil thereafter, though the Scotsman nonetheless featured on 40 occasions in the 2022/23 campaign as Celtic reaffirmed their clutch on the Scottish Premier League title and, at the time of joining Cardiff, had struck seven times from just 19 outings.

With a penchant for scoring from range and making late-box runs, Turnbull appeared to represent a major potential coup for Erol Bulut's side at the time but, nearly two years on from his arrival and following much managerial churn, Cardiff's investment is yet to bear fruit.

David Turnbull's move to Cardiff City has not worked out

Turnbull endured a slow start to life within the Welsh capital, as he — a technically-gifted though low-intensity midfielder with limited defensive and athletic rigor — required time to adapt to Bulut's pragmatic style of play, which never seemed to accommodate his skillset.

There were, of course, flashes of real quality, and his inch-perfect corner delivery for Perry Ng's winner in a Severnside Derby victory away to fierce rivals Bristol City remains present in the memory of his backers, of which there is no shortage.

However, flashes are all there have been, with a lack of both consistency and fortune both recurring themes of a Bluebirds career which has occasionally threatened to ignite while seldom getting off the ground.

The five-cap Scottish international midfielder concluded his opening half-season with just the aforementioned assist to show for 17 appearances, although hope was reignited when Bulut - under whom Turnbull struggled for a regular starting berth - was relieved of his duties following a historically-dismal losing run to kick-start the following campaign.

In came rookie boss Omer Riza, whose appointment proved yet another ill-sighted disaster from the Bluebirds hierarchy, although the former Leyton Orient and Watford coach did envisage Turnbull as a key part of his plans.

That was until disaster struck during a 2-2 draw at Coventry City in November, where Turnbull was omitted just before the interval with a hamstring injury. He had gradually begun to develop an encouraging double-pivot midfield partnership next to the classy, and more athletically-gifted, Alex Robertson, with the pair's combined technical nous enabling Cardiff to exert more control of possession and tempo.

But Turnbull would end up missing more than three months of action, not returning until early March. By this stage, of course, the Bluebirds were embroiled in an ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation to League One, with pressure now intensified on Riza and a rightful emphasis on results over patterns of play and partnerships.

The former Celtic star was unable to force his way back into Riza's thinking. He found himself behind the likes of Robertson, makeshift midfielder Calum Chambers and then-Ajax loanee Sivert Mannsverk and only started one more fixture that term, which was the 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion that sealed Cardiff's fate — this time managed by interim boss Aaron Ramsey.

Relegation, and the subsequent appointment of innovative ex-Manchester City academy lead Brian Barry-Murphy, provided the opportunity for a clean slate. The likes of Rubin Colwill and Chris Willock, alongside a number of academy products in Joel Colwill, Ronan Kpakio and Dylan Lawlor, are just a few players to have been reinvigorated and promoted to more significant roles under his stewardship.

Turnbull, however, is yet to really kick on. There have, as ever, been fleeting moments of promise - namely his starring, two-assist role in Cardiff's 3-0 victory over Rotherham United, or a late assist for Isaak Davies' dramatic winner at AFC Wimbledon just days later - but there has been a lack of continuity and consistency.

His own role in the side has been inconsistent, with Barry-Murphy handing him just four league starts at the time of writing, despite less competition in the midfield department amid Chambers' return to a defensive role and the continued absence of the aforementioned Robertson, who is yet to feature for Cardiff this season.

Turnbull has been an ever-present in Cardiff's EFL Trophy campaign, which perhaps serves as a damning indictment of his situation above all else, playing full matches against Exeter City and Newport County to date, although the 26-year-old's difficult display against the latter in last week's defeat got fans talking for all the wrong reasons.

It would not be unfair to say that it has been a common sight to see Turnbull struggle in high-intensity matches against opponents who deploy an aggressive out-of-possession midfield unit with a focus on pressing tight and regaining the ball by any possible means, and against a side currently placed second-from-bottom in League Two, he was notably off-the-pace.

We do, of course, have a long old campaign ahead, in which Barry-Murphy's squad will be stretched to its fullest and more opportunities will surely be forthcoming for Turnbull, but, once again, nearly two years on from his move, it's becoming increasingly difficult to see him turning his fortunes around, or Cardiff eventually getting their money's worth.

Celtic FC may be laughing to the bank at Cardiff City's £2m David Turnbull signing

Celtic, meanwhile, have most certainly ended up on the better side of this deal, having pocketed a £2 million outlay for a player who was out of contract just months later and has seen his stock decline in rather dramatic fashion.

Turnbull has gone from a starting midfielder in domestic and European competition for a Scottish powerhouse to a squad player in the third-tier of English football, which represents some fall from grace for a player who will doubtless be doing all in his power to provoke a form of upwards direction in his career once again.

But we're yet to really see that and, it must be said, Turnbull has often fallen short of handing Barry-Murphy food for thought when it comes to breaking up the regular midfield partnership of Joel Colwill and Ryan Wintle.

Once Robertson returns, that task is only going to become even more difficult.

Some supporters have begun to urge the Bluebirds to cash in on Turnbull, and while that may not occur in January as the Irishman surely looks to preserve a relatively-short-staffed midfield roster, it's hard to imagine that he is not running out of time to turn his career in South Wales around.