Celtic defender Stephen Welsh is attracting interest from England, Italy, France and Portugal ahead of the January transfer window, according to reports in Scotland.
The arrival of Yuki Kobayashi from Vissel Kobe means that the 22-year-old could be relegated to fifth-choice centre-back, with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt and Moritz Jenz already ahead of him in the pecking order.
Considering that Welsh has only made six appearances in all competitions this season, most supporters on Twitter agree that selling the player could be best for all concerned:
Would sell him he’s not good enough
— chivs (@CHIVS105) December 19, 2022
A’ll drive him to the airport
— Moe Greene (@Agenttaxman) December 19, 2022
Get him sold. CCV, Starfelt and Jenz all ahead of him and we’ve not brought in kobayahsi for nothing, hope it would have worked out better for him but can’t see him getting any game time at all
— Max (@Max____67) December 18, 2022
I'm going to Porto on the 27th he can have my flight ticket 🤣🤣👏🏻
— Declan McArdle (@decomc09) December 19, 2022
Let him go and sign jenz permanently and I'm happy with our four CBs
— Celticbhoy67 (@Celticbhoy6796) December 19, 2022
Best of luck to him
— Jk☘️ (@johnkchicago) December 19, 2022
It does seem pretty clear that manager Ange Postecoglou does not trust Welsh to be a regular starter. Despite refusing offers for the player last summer, the defender has been used sparingly.
For Welsh’s development, he may be better off leaving Parkhead. From Celtic’s point of view, the addition of Kobayashi means they are unlikely to be caught short by injuries if they do allow a centre-half to leave.
