French side Toulouse have ended their pursuit to sign Celtic defender Stephen Welsh after a loan-to-buy offer worth £3.5m was rejected by the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.
According to Sky Sports News, the newly-promoted Ligue 1 side have shelved any attempt to sign Welsh this summer after an offer was rejected by Celtic last week, with Toulouse now moving on to other targets in the final month of the transfer window.
As per the report, Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has big plans for the 22-year-old centre-back, with Welsh scoring in the Hoops’ 2-0 SPL season opener against Aberdeen after the Scotland U-21 international last campaign fully broke into the first team, making 24 appearances in all competitions.
With British talents being scouted more by European clubs, Welsh’s performances had caught the eye of Toulouse following their promotion back to the French top-flight, with the Ligue 1 side been chasing the defender for the majority of the summer before their last attempt to sign the youngster last week was rejected by Celtic.
Indeed, with Welsh starting and scoring in the first game of the season and Toulouse now ending their chase to sign the centre-back, the 22-year-old could now be ready for a breakout year at Celtic, especially if Postecoglou has plans to use the defender more this season.
After all, we saw last season Postecoglou transform Anthony Ralston from a fringe player into one of the best talents in Scotland, and the Australian manager could this year repeat this success story with Welsh, who is already showing early signs of being a breakout player for the Hoops.
Toulouse ending chase to sign Welsh is huge news for Celtic
Postecoglou’s squad management since coming in as Celtic manager has been second-to-none, and with the Hoops boss eager to feature Welsh more this season, Toulouse ending their pursuit to sign the 22-year-old defender is huge news for the Glasgow giants.
With UEFA Champions League football coming up later this season, keeping Welsh will be huge for if Postecoglou is to keep the squad largely healthy for the entire campaign, and Toulouse moving on to other transfer targets is a big sigh of relief for the Hoops for the upcoming year.
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