Ferencvaros ‘monitoring’ Stephen Welsh as Robbie Keane interested in Celtic centre-back

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Stephen Welsh still has two years left on his Celtic contract, but his future likely lies away from Parkhead.

Welsh was sent out on loan to Belgian side KV Mechelen in January due to limited opportunities under Brendan Rodgers at the Hoops.

The central defender played 17 games for KV Mechelen and scored one goal, and it is believed the club want to keep him for the upcoming 2025/26 campaign.

Sky Sports believe Welsh will be transfer listed this summer by Celtic as they look to offload a number of fringe players from the first-team squad.

So could his next club be Ferencvaros under former Celtic striker Robbie Keane?

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Celtic’s Welsh wanted by Ferencvaros

The Celtic Way are reporting Welsh is being ‘monitored’ by the Hungarian giants, who have just been crowned champions of their domestic top-flight.

Keane is currently manager of Ferencvaros and it is said the club are interested in the defender who has featured just 16 times for the Hoops since August 2023.

As mentioned, Welsh is contracted at Celtic until 2027, so Ferencvaros would need to cough up a decent fee for the 25-year-old from Coatbridge.

Speaking about his time in Belgium, Welsh said: “I have loved every minute of it. I think it is the best thing I have done, it is almost like a refresh for six months to go and play football at a top level.”

Robbie Keane at Ferencvaros and loan to Celtic

Keane was made head coach of the Hungarian outfit in January having previously managed ATK (2018) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (2023-2024).

The Irishman has won 15 of his 25 games in charge so far, which was enough to lead Ferencvaros to the Nemzeti Bajnokság I title.

Keane also guided the team to the Europa League knockout phase play-offs, but ended up losing to Viktoria Plzen over two legs.

Of course, Celtic fans will remember Keane from his loan spell at Paradise in 2010. In 19 appearances, he scored 16 goals in 19 games but left at the end of the season trophy-less.