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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Sport
Krishan Davis

The lowdown on 13-goal Scottish midfielder linked with Bristol City, Derby and Cardiff

Bristol City are said to be keen on a young Scotsman who has had a breakthrough season at his hometown club.

The Scottish Sun reports the Robins are among a number of clubs chasing the signature of Motherwell midfielder David Turnbull.

The 19-year-old is enjoying a stellar campaign in the Scottish Premiership and is believed to have turned down a lucrative move away from Fir Park in January before signing a new deal.

The Robins, play-off contenders Derby County and newly-relegated Cardiff City are all said to be interested in the youngster.

Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson (Robbie Stephenson/JMP)

Representatives from each club were reportedly in attendance for Motherwell's 2-0 defeat at St Johnstone on Saturday.

Considering his goalscoring exploits from midfield, City face a tough task in winning the race to land him, but Turnbull's record this season speaks for itself and it would be a very good signing on paper.

Here is the lowdown on the wanted man.

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Local lad

Born just down the road from Fir Park in Wishaw in July 1999, Turnbull is Motherwell through and through

Turnbull joined the academy in 2009 and came through the Well youth system.

David Turnbull celebrates with his Motherwell teammates (Motherwell FC)

He was part of the Motherwell side that won the Scottish Youth Cup in 2016, beating Hearts.

The 19-year-old made his senior debut in the cup in February 2018 and had to wait a further three months for his league bow.

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Goalscoring midfielder

A versatile midfielder, he can operate in the centre, in a more advanced role or on the left flank.

In his breakthrough season he has been deployed predominantly in the centre, but that hasn't made his performances any less explosive.

Although Motherwell's form has slipped, Turnbull has contributed 13 goals and five assists in 25 appearances in the Scottish top flight with one game to go.

Motherwell's David Turnbull (PA)

He wasn't even a regular starter at the beginning of the season before nailing down a role in a start against St Johnstone in October.

Now he is among the league's top scorers and has the best shot accuracy with 52 per cent.

At the end of April he had score 29 per cent of his side's goals this season. Without those goals the Lanarkshire side would have been a whopping 15 points worse off.

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No to January move

After five goals in 14 games in the first half of the season Turnbull was linked with Premier League Southampton, Championship Swansea City and League One Sunderland in January, but he turned them all down to sign a new contract with Well until 2021.

He went on to make his international debut for the Scotland U21s in March against Mexico in Marbella and came off the bench in the defeat by Sweden a few days later.

It seems it will just be a matter of time before he gets a senior call-up.

Award-winning season

His exploits this season earned him the Scottish Football Writers’ Young Player of the Year award.

He also cleaned up with five awards at the club's player of the year awards.

David Turnbull with the Scottish Football Writers' Association Scottish Young Player of the Year award (PA)

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After he was pipped to the Young Player of the Year award in Scotland, Motherwell assistant boss Keith Lasley tweeted: "Unbelievable. David Turnbull is the best young talent this country has produced in a generation.

"Young player of the year by some distance."

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