French side Toulouse have reportedly dropped their interest in Celtic defender Stephen Welsh. Celtic have apparently rejected a loan deal from the French team that included a £3.5 million option to buy him permanently.
Anthony Joseph of Sky Sports writes that Toulouse has since moved on to fresh targets after failing to secure their top transfer target. Ange Postecoglou rates Welsh highly. He wants the youngster in his plans at Celtic Park next season.
Welsh On The Scoresheet On The First Day Of The Season
Celtic won their first game of the new league season. Stephen Welsh was on the scoresheet and helped the Scottish titans maintain a clean sheet as well.
Welsh glanced a header to get the reigning champions off the mark after just three minutes. Jota later added gloss to the scoreline after a powerful effort from range.
Postecoglou was full of praise for his centre-back and reiterated his desire to keep him. He even said last week that Welsh’s training had “gone up a level” this year, and that was evident against Aberdeen.
Welsh has shown a lot of growth. I expect that from all the players. He has come back for pre-season and worked really hard through it. We are challenging him to take his game to another level.
He has definitely gone up a level from last year. And hopefully he knows that we will try to get even more out of him.
Although Welsh is young at 22, he is seen as a key member of this team. With each match, he has the opportunity to develop further and be an asset to the reigning Scottish champions.
Welsh is absolutely not for sale, and Toulouse has been made aware of this. Udinese of Italy recently made an offer to bring Welsh to Serie A, which shows that Welsh has scouts across Europe watching him.
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