ANGE POSTECOGLOU has said that Stephen Welsh won’t be leaving Celtic, despite only making six appearances for the Hoops this season.
His last start was against St Johnstone in October, and he has struggled with injuries ever since, only recently getting back into the squad and getting a place on the bench.
Reports suggested that the club were willing to listen to offers for the player, who could’ve been set to leave the club this transfer window, but the manager, Ange Postecoglou, has since denied this, saying that the Scottish under-21 captain was never likely to leave Celtic this window.
While paying tribute to Moritz Jenz after his departure was confirmed, Ange Postecoglou said: [The Scotsman]
“There was speculation but he [Welsh] wasn’t likely to leave. I thought Moritz did really well for us. He hadn’t played a lot over the second half of the year in France and we picked him up. The whole idea was to bring him into the environment so we got him on a loan with an option to buy.
“I thought he did well for us but obviously as the season went on I was really keen to bring in Yuki Kobayashi, who I had been tracking as a left-sided centre-back. Once we got that deal done it meant that there was going to be limited opportunities for someone like Moritz.”
Welsh is at a crucial point in his career; he must decide if he wishes to pursue first-team football for another club or remain at Celtic but only play a couple of games every so often.
