It’s going to be a summer for this now, isn’t it? Now that the media frenzy of Brendan Rodgers rejoining Celtic has calmed down, the Irishman can now get down to the day-to-day running of the first team,
Rodgers is said to be ready to schedule talks with a number of Celtic players regarding their futures at the club after it was reported that Liel Abada had turned down a new contract.
And now, The Daily Mail (print edition Page 70) also report that fringe defender, Stephen Welsh is a target for Serie A side Hellas Verona. The report also claims that Bologna is keeping tabs on Welsh’s situation at the club.
Verona secured their Serie A status last season with an incredible last-day 3-1 away win over Spezia. The result sent their match day opponents down into Serie B whilst ensuring their top league survival on goal difference.
Keen to ensure that this does not happen next season, the Italians seem to now be targeting Welsh as a defender that can help them progress in the Serie A next season. [BBC]
Welsh only made four appearances in the league for Celtic last season. The 23-year-old hasn’t featured in the first team since the 2-1 win over St Johnstone in October of last year.
In the last five years, Welsh has only made 52 appearances for the club. He has struggled to break into the Celtic team and establish himself as an important first-team player.
At his age, a move is probably best for him as he will need regular football to kick-start not only his club career but also his international one. And, of course, this is not the first time he has been linked with a move away.
Welsh was said to have been pursued by Sheffield Wednesday in the January window and Udinese and Toulouse also showed interest in the defender.
The recent preferred use of Tomiki Iwata at centre back by Ange Postecoglou at the end of the season did seem to spell the end of his career in Glasgow. However, could it be revived under Brendan Rodgers?
That would be unlikely. Especially with a settled partnership of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt being ably backed up with Yuki Kobayashi and, if need be, the aforementioned Iwata.
Capped at u21 level for Scotland, Welsh is yet to make a single appearance for the senior national squad and with the Euros 2024 coming up next year, he may well have designs on making Steve Clarke’s squad for the trip to Germany.
Under contract until 2025, Celtic could still expect to receive a reasonable fee for a player who could still yet develop into a good defender.
In other news, Report: Liel Abada turns down new Celtic contract; Rodgers to schedule player talks
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