Celtic have been making their moves ahead of the January transfer window already. The club have announced the signing of 22-year-old Japanese centre-back, Yuki Kobayashi. On the other hand, it looks only a matter of time before a deal is agreed to sign Canadian international, Alistair Johnston, who can play both as a right-back and as a centre-back.
That might see some players who are already at the club slip significantly down the pecking order and see their first-team minutes reduced. One such player is Stephen Welsh.
Welsh has come through the youth ranks at Celtic and had high hopes when first breaking into the first-team picture. He has never been able to nail down a starting role in the team though and is the fourth choice centre-back right now, behind Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt and Moritz Jenz.
And with Kobayashi arriving, he is expected to slip further down the pecking order. Thus, the best step for his career might be for him to depart Parkhead, at least on a temporary basis.
Celtic should let long-time player leave this January in order to gain first-team experience
Jenz is on loan at the moment and it is unclear whether the club will sign him permanently or not. Thus, in this scenario, letting Welsh go out on loan makes even more sense.
If he manages to impress away from Parkhead then he can come back at the end of the season and have a role in the team while Jenz is allowed to go back. While if Welsh struggles then it would make sense to sign the German defender permanently.
Welsh has not been bad when he has played and in fact has some good performances to his name as well. But he is too inconsistent. Thus, based on current form, it is hard to see him getting any significant playing time in Ange Postecoglou’s side.