Francis Turley, ice in his veins, born under a frigid, January sky in Northern Ireland on the 14th day of the year 2006, resides in the fulcrum of a football pitch, the central realm of the midfielder. Standing a respectable 5 foot 10 inches in height (or 1.8 metres for those across the Channel), the lad musters weight at an even 10 stone 7 pounds (that's 67 kilos in the coin of our continental friends), his rangy constitution paired with a numerical adornment on his shirt screaming youth and potential - the number 54.
This Celtic man plies his trade in the centre of the park, wrestling on bravely against larger adversaries when he steps foot in the first team at Parkhead. A career that began, in a sense, in the fading light of the 2024-2025 season when Francis made his solitary first team appearance. In the subsequent season, the current one, our lad Turley has yet to feature but sits poised, ready for battle.
His market value may seem a humble figure for those accustomed to the flashier reaches of European football - an estimated £130,000 according to Transfermarkt. Yet, its numerical modesty belies the potential held in this lad's boots, a potential that Celtic nurtured and spotted, and one that continues to grow under the green-and-white mantle. Turley, after all, is a name that has only just begun its narrative in the annals of Celtic Football Club's prosperous history.
