McManus: Stephen Welsh may quit Celtic for Premiership rivals after update
Stephen Welsh could leave Celtic and join a Premiership rival in January after failing to break into the first team this season.
That’s according to former Hibernian striker Tam McManus, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the defender’s future.
According to the Daily Record (19 December), the 22-year-old is being tracked by Portuguese giants Porto as well as clubs in England, Italy and France ahead of the January window.
The defender’s Parkhead contract runs until 2025 but with the recent acquisition of Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi, Welsh could be forced even further down the pecking order.
McManus insists Welsh must leave Parkhead in January even if he departs permanently.
“He’s 22 now, he cannot be sat on the bench or in the stands every week,” McManus told Football Insider‘s Ben Wild.
“He has to go and play games for somebody. Celtic have depth at centre-back and now they have just signed Kobayashi as well.
“Welsh is well down the pecking order at Celtic now and he just has to leave. Whether he goes to Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen or somewhere down south, he has to get away.
“Whether it is a loan deal or a permanent doesn’t matter right now. We’ll have to see what kind of offers come in but he is helping no one if he isn’t playing.
“I would be surprised if Welsh is still at Celtic when the window closes.”
Welsh has made six appearances for Celtic this season with all of those being starts.
However, he has failed to make the Premiership matchday squad on 12 occasions.
In other news, McManus has backed Celtic to complete a striker signing as fans start to turn on Kyogo Furuhashi.