---
title: "Celtic: Hoops reject Stephen Welsh bid"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/celtic-hoops-reject-stephen-welsh-bid/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Celtic News"
published: "2022-01-08T20:40:06Z"
modified: "2022-01-08T20:40:06Z"
---

# Celtic: Hoops reject Stephen Welsh bid

**‘Celtic have knocked back an approach’ from Serie A side Udinese for centre-back Stephen Welsh, according to [Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph](https://twitter.com/AnthonyRJoseph/status/1479558717955846145).**

### The lowdown

Welsh came through the youth ranks at Celtic and has now played 41 senior games for The Hoops.

He’s [featured nine times](https://www.transfermarkt.com/stephen-welsh/leistungsdaten/spieler/403568) in the Scottish Premiership this season, including back-to-back starts prior to the winter break, and eight times in European competition (including qualifiers).

The 21-year-old is thought to earn [£3,600 per week](https://salarysport.com/football/scottish-premiership/celtic/) and is valued at around £1.3million by [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/stephen-welsh/leistungsdaten/spieler/403568).

\[freshpress-quiz id=”383645″\]

### The latest

‘It’s understood’ that Udinese approached Celtic over taking Welsh on loan with an option to buy, [Joseph](https://twitter.com/AnthonyRJoseph/status/1479558717955846145) reports for Sky,

However, ‘Celtic are keen’ to keep hold of him and they’ve rebuffed the interest.

Joseph points out that Welsh signed a new four-year contract as recently as April 2021.

### The verdict

It’s no surprise that Celtic are reluctant to potentially lose Welsh. The [Scottish Under-21 international](https://www.transfermarkt.com/stephen-welsh/leistungsdaten/spieler/403568) could well establish himself as a key player at Parkhead in the coming years if he continues to improve.

He’s performed reasonably well when called upon this season, averaging a [SofaScore](https://www.sofascore.com/player/welsh-stephen/862953) rating of 7.1/10 and winning just shy of 60 per cent of his duels overall.

The [‘excellent’](https://thisisfutbol.com/2020/10/blogs/scottish-premier-league/celtic-pundit-praises-stephen-welsh/) Welsh, hailed as such by pundit Paul John Dykes, will hope that he can earn even more frequent starting opportunities from Ange Postecoglou in the second half of the campaign.

**In other news, [a fresh update has emerged on an attacking target](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/celtic-news/celtic-further-johnny-kenny-update-emerges/).**