Players welcoming a very dab hand (5)
I believe the answer is:
maven
'dab hand' is the definition.
(both can mean an expert)
'players welcoming a very' is the wordplay.
'players' becomes 'men' (eg men referring to the players in a football team).
'welcoming' is an insertion indicator (in sense of 'inviting in').
'very' becomes 'v' (abbreviation).
'a'+'v'='av'
'men' going around 'av' is 'MAVEN'.
(Other definitions for maven that I've seen before include "US authority" , "Expert, connoisseur (US)" .)