Celtic transfer news bulletin as Welsh offer arrives, Bueno condition emerges and things get 'crazy' in USA
Celtic have reportedly fielded an 'offer' from Mechelen to take defender Stephen Welsh on loan.
The centre-back has largely been out-of-favour since Brendan Rodgers' return, though injury didn't help him last season. By the time he returned from an ankle problem in December, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales had hit their stride and Welsh started just three league games from there.
The 24-year-old still has three years to run on his contract and is thought to be ahead of Maik Nawrocki and Gustaf Lagerbielke in the pecking order. But Rodgers could decide to move him on if it means he can play regularly and make room for another defensive addition. Sky Sports reported late on Friday night that Belgian side Mechelen, who helped relaunch Jack Hendry's career, have made an offer to take him on loan for the season. It's also claimed a number of English Championship clubs are keen.
Elsewhere, Wolves have reportedly told Celtic they only want to loan out Hugo Bueno if he will be playing regularly. With Alexandro Bernardo currently out on loan, Greg Taylor is the only senior natural left-back at Parkhead and that's something Rodgers is keen to rectify. It's emerged this week that Bueno, who played 25 times for Wolves last season, is a target to that end with talks underway over a loan. That's after a failed attempt to bring him in in January.
But it's claimed by Football Insider that Wolves have informed Celtic he would need to be a first-team regular for them to consider it with the 21-year-old's development key. Whether or not the Hoops can offer that with Taylor likely to be their first-choice to begin with remains to be seen, but they will have plenty of chances to rotate once the Champions League kicks off and the