With Neil Lennon finally departing Parkhead, Celtic are on the lookout for a new manager.

John Kennedy will take interim charge of the side but behind the scenes, the likes of Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell will be frantically trying to find the man who can revive their fortunes.

On the chalkboard

One player who must be front and centre of any Celtic rebuild is David Turnbull. The £3m summer signing from Motherwell has been one of few bright sparks this season.

He has battered away negative press directed at his team with aplomb, finding the net on a regular basis and picking out assists with great regularity.

Since signing for the Hoops, Turnbull has scored eight times, registering six assists in the process. That makes him the team’s third top goalscorer while from a creative point of view, only Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor have more assists out of Celtic’s attackers.

A dream for Martinez

There are few better in the Celtic squad when it comes to keeping possession and using the ball wisely in forward areas than Turnbull.

That should be music to the ears of Roberto Martinez, one of the managers touted with taking on the Hoops job.

The 47-year-old is currently in charge of Belgium so this would be a surprising appointment given they're the number one ranked team in world football.

Notably, though, the Belgian national team is where he’s used to coaching one of the best playmakers on the planet in Kevin De Bruyne. Of course, it’s difficult to compare such an illustrious footballer to Turnbull but we can compare him to another of Martinez’s former players.

That happens to be Ross Barkley, an individual that the Spaniard had such a huge influence on shaping. It was under Martinez that the attacking midfielder really burst onto the scene and started producing attacking numbers on a regular basis.

Barkley was given what can be described as a free-role just behind the striker at Everton, and in Turnbull, Martinez could craft a very similar player in the same position.

Turnbull was used out wide and in the middle under Lennon but his future surely lies in a central area. Coincidentally, the 21-year-old has very similar stats to the ones that Barkley achieved in his final campaign under the Spanish coach at Goodison Park.

During the 2015/16 season, the England international provided eight goals and eight assists in the Premier League, amassing 2.5 shots, 1.5 key passes and 3.1 dribbles per game.

To compare, Turnbull has accumulated 2.2 shots and 2.5 key passes a match in the SPFL this season. With that in mind, he’s certainly a player that’s up Martinez’s street.

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Barkley enjoyed three campaigns under the Celtic linked manager and managed to break into the England side as a result. A big move to Chelsea followed as he very quickly became one of the rising stars in English football.

Turnbull will be hoping that Martinez can improve him in a very similar way. Considering the qualities they both possess, it shouldn’t be out of the question.

AND in other news, Liam Shaw could be an instant hit if Celtic hire 40 y/o who "sets high standards"...