Celtic have been pretty busy over the first few weeks of the summer transfer window. They have brought in quite a few players and said goodbye to plenty as well, including key players like Nicolas Kuhn and Greg Taylor. Ultimately, it is always important for the Hoops to part ways at the right time in order to keep moving the club forward.
There are still quite a few players for whom it might be the right time to leave Celtic. One name that almost certainly falls under that category is Stephen Welsh.
The centre-back has come through the Celtic youth system but has never really been able to establish himself as a key player for the club. Now, at 25 years of age, he needs to take the next step in his development and go somewhere where he will get regular football unless he is comfortable being a cover option like Anthony Ralston.
Unfortunately, Welsh recently appeared to pick up an injury in a pre-season game. And now, the club he was being linked with, have decided to sign another centre-back.
'Next week' - Fabrizio Romano confirms bad news for Celtic
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Mechelen have agreed a deal to sign former AS Roma talent Lovro Golic on a free transfer. The Slovenian defender had interest from several clubs in Italy, Germany and the UK. The deal is set to be signed next week.
Let's see what the future holds for Welsh. There had been suggestions that Mechelen wanted to sign him on a permanent basis after seeing him on loan last season.
But now, the club are set to sign a different centre-back. Of course, this does not guarantee that they won't go out and sign Welsh as well. Yet, that feels quite unlikely to be very honest.