It can be a month of spending occupied in Celtic in January.
And the hoops have now said goodbye to one of their oldest stars.
Stephen Welsh has been with Celtic since he was just EIGHT years old.
But for the rest of this season, he will make his career elsewhere.
The defender, who will be 25 years later this month, sealed a transfer to the Belgian lighen.
Welsh has drafted a six-month loan deal and will play the rest of the in the Belgian Pro League.
Although it is not, at least at this level, a permanent excursion for the central deffinisher, this resolution puts at least one transitional finish at a disposition of 17 years with rings.
Welsh joined Parkhead Club at the age of eight.
He progressed through the youth ranks and joined the Celtic progression team in 2017.
The following year, he wrote an extension of the contract that lasts until 2020.
He received his first taste of the first team delighting in Morton the first part of the 2019/20 campaign.
Welsh returned to Celtic in January and made his hoops debut the following month in a 4–1 win at Hamilton.
The 2020/21 campaign saw Welsh feature more regularly for the Celts with a total of 21 appearances in all competitions.
He played the next crusade 24 times, while Celtic won a league and a double cut.
The center-back has won 4 league titles, two Scottish cups and 3 league cups.
However, Welsh featured sporadically the following campaign and hasn’t been able to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ regular plans.
He introduced twice for hoops this season and had to wait until Dec. 22 to make his first appearance in the first season.
Welsh has been limited to Young Pope Point through Scotland and has made 10 appearances for children under 21 years.
Speaking after the confirmation of the deal, Welsh told his new website: “Mechelen has shown for some time that they would like to have me.
“I am delighted to be able to sign for this great club. In the coming months I want to fight together with the team and the supporters and achieve great results. I am looking forward to it!
“My contract here takes position until summer, so I will do everything possible to succeed with the team.
“My full focus now is on being able to play for KV as soon as possible.”
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