Former Wolves star Alex Rae was impressed by what he saw from axed former Celtic star Stephen Welsh during this international window.
Welsh struggled to establish himself at Celtic, despite racking up 43 league appearances in all, spending time out on loan with Motherwell recently. He was then approached by Swansea City in the summer, although they only wanted him on a free transfer.
With Celtic not planning to use Welsh any time soon, they mutually agreed to cancel the defender's contract to allow him to push through his move to Wales, and we're sure the irony of his name is not lost on him.
Welsh has been excellent for the Swans so far, helping them to force their way to the top of the league at this still early stage. Welsh's form saw him earn a Scotland call-up for the Nations League.
Scotland are off to a mixed start to life under new boss Sebastien Pocognoli, picking up four points from their first four games, including a defeat to Slovenia on Tuesday night. That result leaves them three points behind Slovenia in second place, where they will need to finish to have any chance of winning promotion.
But there were positives to take, and Welsh was one of them, according to Rae.
“He has actually got into that level of football, with the greatest respect when you think about where he has been at,” Rae said on the PLZ Football Show.
“I think the fact that he has come in, he looks assured and the good thing about him is that he is actually comfortable on the ball.”
Celtic have to be regretting their Welsh decision
Celtic have to know by now that they made a mistake, however you want to slice it. Yes, they did the right thing by allowing him to leave if they were not planning on using him.
But to allow a defender who had just had a solid loan spell at Motherwell to leave for free, and to a Championship side with money, that was, at the very least, the mistake.
We can talk about whether Welsh should have been given a chance...everything is easier in hindsight. Welsh has started well down South, but it doesn't been he is better than Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers of Liam Scales.
The biggest problem remains the fact that Celtic allowed him to leave for free to a team that spent more than £17million on transfers over the summer. Cheap deals can be done to do favours for players, but not bringing in any money for a solid player was a very strange business choice.
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