Why £500k is a bargain for Motherwell ace Allan Campbell - and clubs, including Rangers, should be lining up to sign him

Allan Campbell is wanted by Aberdeen and Hibs. Picture: SNS

For a few seasons now, there has been a large Allan Campbell-shaped drum Motherwell fans have been banging relentlessly.

Ever since making his debut a few months after turning 18 in 2016, the 22-year-old has watched Louis Moult, Ben Heneghan, Cedric Kipre, James Scott, Jake Hastie, Chris Cadden and most recently David Turnbull move on having been given a platform to shine and develop under Stephen Robinson at Fir Park.

Most of these departures were softened by good money for the club, but for fans they were comforted with the knowledge they still had Campbell.

In terms of personality and playing style, no player has better personified what Motherwell have been about these past few years than the midfield dynamo.

“I don’t know how I could replace him,” Robinson said after a 1-0 win over St Johnstone. “He epitomises everything we do at this football club and, if everyone in football was like Allan then life would be very, very easy.”

The mental side to his game, the attitude and professionalism are all there. He is someone who wants to be the very best, whether it is in the gym or on the football pitch. He wants to win. That is no surprise to someone who has admitted he would tackle his granny for the last hobnob.

In that aforementioned game against St Johnstone, Campbell was the difference maker.

Campbell showed his class against St Johnstone, netting the only goal. Picture: SNS

Early on he netted the winner and everything about it was the player at his best. A loose ball becomes available in midfield. Who is there, on top of the game? Campbell. Then every little moment thereafter is simply fantastic play. Holding off and wriggling away from two opponents, driving forward with the ball purposely, intelligently cutting across David Wotherspoon before arrowing a shot from distance into the bottom corner.

Throughout he unnerved and harassed the Saints midfield to the point Callum Davidson may have been looking into a restraining order.

Hungry Campbells

Adding more goals to his game is something he has talked about on a number of occasions. It would yet be another string in an already impressive and expansive bow.

Campbell is a throwback, all-action midfielder. Picture: SNS

Campbell’s energy is really important to the Steelmen’s tempo as is his prescient ability to know where the ball is going to land and be in position to scoop it up, like the hungriest of hippos – the Motherwell shop unfortunately don’t sell a rebranded version of Hungry Campbells.

There are some players who put up incredible ‘numbers’, for instance former team-mate David Turnbull and his chance creation. Everyone knows he's such a talent. There are other players where you can unearth stats to display their importance to the team, even if it is not easy to see.

With Campbell you don’t need a calculator. You just need to watch a game of football to appreciate what he brings to the table, the talent in which he possesses.

He was at it again in the 3-0 win over Aberdeen last month. Head and shoulders above anyone else on the park, Campbell appeared to have gained the ability to teleport, one moment he is breaking up play on the edge of the box, before you can even blink he is bombing forward in support of the attackers.

It was something Dons boss Derek McInnes mentioned after the game.

"Campbell comes up and plays the game to win points, we go out to play a game of fitba," the Aberdeen manager said. "The wee boy Campbell was everything that encapsulated Motherwell’s performance.

"He was first to support, to the break of the ball, he was back tackling. We needed a few more Allan Campbells in our team today."

Bargain £500k

So there was no surprise that Aberdeen, as well as Hibs, have been strongly linked with a move for the player who is in the final year of his contract at Motherwell. However, he would still cost at least £500,000 in compensation, according to TheTwoPointOne, with the Fir Park side not willing to let him leave for anything less before then.

Even in these difficult times where coronavirus has and continues to ravage our game, it presents a bargain.

For Aberdeen he would add to what is already a highly promising, combative and fearsome partnership between Lewis Ferguson and Ross McCorie.

At Easter Road there is a natural place for him in the Hibs midfield. He is the player the club have been yearning for ever since John McGinn joined Aston Villa. That up-and-at-em style of play: the ability to turn defence into attack in the matter of seconds, driving forward, committing opponents.

You look to Rangers and see a void in their squad for a talent who possesses the box-to-box qualities he does. Such a player may not be required by Steven Gerrard but long-term he could become a Scott Arfield type who adds to the team with as much as he does off the ball as with it.

It is curious as to why Campbell hasn’t already been the subject of big money bids. After all he has more than 130 first-team appearances under his belt and a raft of excellent performances and conveyor belt of consistent ones.

In a time when midfielders all have their specific role within the team dynamic, Campbell is almost a throwback to someone who can do a bit of everything. He is someone fans in the stand relate to and who opposition supporters wish they had in their team.

Whatever happens next, wherever he ends up, there will be a fan base delighted he is theirs.