Ange Postecoglou speaks on Celtic youngster he has 'a lot of time for' and 'wouldn't expect desire for move'

Udinese’s attempts to prise Stephen Welsh from Celtic were not a matter that required Ange Postecoglou to enter the conversations. But the Australian says there was only one answer going to be forthcoming over the Italian’s offer for the Scotland under-21, believed to be £1.7million.

Celtic's Stephen Welsh (L) and manager Ange Postecoglou earlier in the season.

“I haven’t really been involved in too much dialogue there but I am not surprised that quite a few of our players are getting attention as we continue on this journey and continue to improve and hopefully have success. But Stephen Welsh is not going anywhere at the moment,” the Celtic manager said. “I wouldn’t expect him to want to go anywhere because he is playing really well, he’s developing all the time. He is still a young player and there is more to come in his Celtic career.”

Welsh made 19 appearances for Celtic in the first half of the season, following on from a run of games last season. And to Postecoglou, that total is the answer to the question as to how much he has been impressed by the 21-year-old. “Well he’s playing, mate,” Postecoglou said. “He’s like all of them, when they’re playing then you know they have impressed me. He has played a lot of football in the first half of the season but he’s developing all the time. He’s still a young player. I have a lot of time for him. He works hard in training and he wants to improve and keep pushing to make sure he becomes the best possible player he can.”

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