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Anthony Joseph broke the news of interest in taking the defender on loan last month but when the SPFL season started on Sunday the 24-year-old was on the bench against Kilmarnock.
Last summer Gus Lagerbielke and Maik Nawricki were added to the Celtic squad but neither made much of an impression with Liam Scales emerging from the shadows to become a regular after getting his chance through injuries to Welsh, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Nawrocki.
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Nat Phillips has come and gone but so far there has been no movement in or out of the Celtic defence during the summer transfer window with Welsh very much part of the plans.
At 4.39 on Tuesday’s Sky Sports transfer blog, Joseph reported:
Celtic have told KV Mechelen that Stephen Welsh is not available for a transfer at this stage of the window.
Sky Sports News revealed last month that the Belgian Pro League club had made a loan offer for the centre-back.
It’s understood Celtic are still assessing their centre-back situation and don’t want to lose Welsh at this stage.
The Hoops are open to offers for centre-backs Gustaf Lagerbielke and Yuki Kobayashi. Lagerbielke is attracting interest from a number clubs in Italy, while St Mirren are keen on Kobayashi.
Celtic are also willing to listen to loan offers for Maik Nawrocki, who picked up an injury in pre-season.
It’s understood the Scottish champions will enter the market for a centre-back if they can offload their fringe players, with boss Brendan Rodgers preferring to work with a core four.
That final line makes it clear that players will have to move on before anyone else comes in. Dane Murray and Bosun Lawal could also be added to that list.
So far Paulo Bernardo on a permanent deal has been the only outfield addition to the squad that won the double last season, with the midfielder’s status questionable after spending last season on loan.
Rodgers has been showing great patience so far in his media comments about transfer matters and isn’t expected to speak again until Friday when he previews Sunday’s match away to Hibs.
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