Stephen Welsh has reportedly agreed to terminate his Celtic contract.
The defender has been at Celtic for almost 20 years, joining the club as an eight-year-old in 2008.
He spent last season on loan at Motherwell, enjoying the best season of his career and doing his parent club a few favours by overcoming their title rivals.
As a reward for his loyalty and contributions at Fir Park, the two parties have reportedly now agreed to part ways.
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Stephen Welsh terminates Celtic contract by mutual agreement
According to Anthony Joseph of Sky Sports, Welsh has mutually agreed to terminate his contract at Celtic Park.
He had another year remaining on his deal, but a “goodwill gesture” has been given to Welsh for his loyalty at the club.
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Welsh has now generated interest from France and Poland with his performances as the Steelmen surprised the country with a top-four finish.
He made 70 appearances for the Hoops, across which he has picked up nine medals.
Speaking about ‘proving a point’ on loan in Lanarkshire, he said earlier this year “As a footballer that’s all you want, to play and have moments like that.
“It’s no secret it’s hard to come through at a club like Celtic. To play the amount of games I have there, I’m very proud of that.
“But I’m a realist as well. A lot of different players came in. So I took it upon myself to go out on loan abroad last year.
“When I came back, I made the decision to come here because I could see the manager’s vision. To actually come back a second time is even sweeter.
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“After how well we’d done before New Year, it was a big disappointment that I had to go away. To come back, have my first game and experience such a good moment is great.
“There’s a lot of good players at Celtic, they’ve spent a lot of money on defenders.
“So I won’t make excuses. I just wanted to play football and I made that very clear to the club and thankfully they let me do that again.
“As a footballer you’re always trying to prove a point. It doesn’t matter who you are, even if you’re the best in the world.
“You still want to prove a point to someone. I feel like that’s what I’ve done.”
Reflecting on his return to Fir Park, Welsh said: “It was an odd couple of weeks, I didn’t know what was going to happen.
“The communication between the clubs was good, but you truly never know.
“It went down to the last few minutes before coming here. I’m thankful that it did and I’m just glad to be back.
“It was a difficult couple of weeks. People don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. But I’m delighted to be back. I just want to play and hopefully that continues.”
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