‘I Am Loving Him’ – Former Celtic Star Delighting Ex-Striker With Championship Displays | OneFootball

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Former Celtic star Stephen Welsh has been lauded by Sam Parkin for making himself undroppable immediately after joining Championship side Swansea City.

Welsh enjoyed an impressive loan spell under Jens Berthel Askou at Motherwell last term, as the Steelmen finished in a European spot in the Scottish Premiership.

Seeing him perform in a Motherwell shirt, Gordon Dalziel admitted that he did not know that Welsh was so good.

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In December last year, when a requirement arose in defence at Celtic Park following the appointment of Wilfried Nancy, then Motherwell star Andy Halliday expressed his hope to see Celtic leave Welsh where he was and sign others instead.

Following a brief recall to Celtic Park, Welsh headed back to Motherwell to see out the campaign, and it appeared that he would need to leave the Bhoys permanently to secure regular game time.

That happened in the summer, when Celtic agreed to terminate his deal and he headed to join Champonship side Swansea.

At the heart of the Swansea defence, Welsh has paired with Ben Cabango and built a steady partnership, one that they have missed since the departure of Harry Darling for Norwich City, according to former striker Parkin.

Parkin admits he is loving what Welsh is doing and finds him easy to watch.

Praising the 26-year-old, Parkin said on What The EFL (11.23): “It’s with the ball that I am loving him.

“He is really easy on the eye.

“Had the wonderful Swansea centre-half partnership in Cabango and Darling.

“He has fitted in alongside Cabango beautifully.”

Parkin, describing Welsh’s key attributes as a central defender, insisted that he is an excellent passer and has strong skills in anticipation.

“Technically really efficient, lovely passer of the ball long and short, anticipation very, very good and Swansea have been the best defensively by a distance, only conceded six.”

In eight Championship matches, Swansea have conceded just six goals, a part of which are four straight clean sheets.

Welsh has been involved in all of them, again earning plaudits from the 45-year-old.

“Had that run of four clean sheets, again he will be tested throughout the season a little bit more defensively.

“But he has never conceded more than one [except] on that sole occasion down at St Mary’s.

“So, he was probably coming to be something of a squad player to bolster their ranks defensively and he has immediately become undroppable.”

Welsh had been on the fringes at Celtic Park for a long time and moved to Belgian side Mechelen in January 2025 despite seeing an attempt from the same outfit thwarted by the Bhoys the previous summer.

It remains to be seen if Celtic might come to regret letting Welsh move on, especially amid their poor recent form.