Celtic star earns 'wow' verdict from former teammate as MLS coach finds American equivalent to ace that left him in 'awe'

Andy Rose has a keen eye on who's up and coming in the Seattle Sounders ranks these days - and he'll be thrilled to find someone like Celtic star and former Motherwell teammate David Turnbull.

The midfielder has endured a tough start to 2022 through injury but still managed to contribute nine goals with eight assists in the first half of the term for boss Ange Postecoglou.

Rose worked closely with the Wishaw ace during just under 18 fruitful months at Fir Park, and knew straight away he was working with someone special.

An assistant coach role at former club Seattle Sounders convinced the former Steelman to call time on his career after a spell at Vancouver Whitecaps earlier this year.

Talented teen Obed Vargas reminds the 32-year-old who, speaking of the Celtic ace on the Lanarkshire Live Sport Podcast , was taken aback when he first set his sights on the ML1 academy graduate.

He said: "One name I speak about a lot from my time in Scotland is David Turnbull. I remember the very first training session he did with us.

"We did a five-a-side. We always did young boys v the middle-agers, and he was the best player on the pitch! He must have been 17 or maybe 18. Nobody was surprised.

"But I was in awe of his balance, his first touch and awareness. He scored one from outside the goal and I can remember thinking 'wow, what a player' when I got home. I was wondering why none of the other guys were as surprised.

"We have a 16-year-old at Seattle who reminds me of David, Obed Vargas, he plays for the USA u20s. Everybody is like 'wow' because he's 16 but it's kind of normal at Motherwell for an academy product to not look out of place."

It wasn't just Turnbull who Rose was enamoured by. Fellow midfielders like Allan Campbell,