Giving his all: Georgie Welcome says he will give everything he has to persuade Walter Smith to give him a Rangers deal. Pic: ©SNS Group
Georgie Welcome says he is going to give his all to convince Rangers he is worthy of a move from Honduran side Club Deportivo Motagua. The striker, who came on as a substitute in all three of Honduras' World Cup games, will arrive in Glasgow on Monday to start a week-long trial at Murray Park.
Welcome, who was first linked with a move to Glasgow before the World Cup, was watched by Ian Durrant before the tournament, leading to the move to bring the player to Scotland for a closer look.
Available for around £600,000, the powerful player – who will now miss his team's CONCACAF Champions League game with Toronto next week – is ecstatic at the chance to prove his worth to a European side and says everyone is behind him at Motagua.
“I am very happy and excited,” Welcome told diez.hn. “I know that things will work out. My colleagues are supporting me and are very happy. My goal is to stay with Rangers.
“Ramon Maradiaga [Motagua coach] told me to strive and take advantage of this great opportunity. I am going to give everything because he wants to see me succeed abroad and not return to Motagua.
“I am going to die on that pitch because it is my chance. I trust that Jesus will help me in my new experience. I have waited a long time for this moment and I will fight to fulfil my dream.”
GEORGIE WELCOME HEADING TO SCOTLAND
Welcome, 25, is well regarded for his physical presence on the pitch but admits he knows little about Rangers and the SPL, except from learning recently of the rough and tumble nature of the league.
Despite that the player, better known for his ability to score pivotal goals rather than be a prolific scorer, says he has the ability to overcome the unwanted attentions of the division's defenders.
“I am used to people kicking me,” he said. “I just have to play with a lot of intelligence. I am ready to achieve this goal. I hope that everything goes well.
“I go prepared to prove my ability and will train for a few days as a trialist. I will work hard to earn a place in the Rangers squad.”
Welcome will have to make do with simply training with Rangers in the meantime, unable to take part in the Glasgow club's forthcoming friendlies against Clyde and Newcastle United. Speaking after Rangers' defeat to AEK Athens in the last game of their trip to Sydney, manager Walter Smith confirmed Welcome's impending arrival.
"Georgie Welcome will be coming to join us next week on trial," Smith confirmed to Rangers' official website. "We can't play him in the games because of the work permit situation but we can look at him training, We will see what happens and then take it from there."
