It still looks unlikely that Jack Hendry will come back to Celtic Park and play a regular role in the team, but he could certainly help the club raise some money for reinforcements next season.
He’s on loan with Oostende in Belgium this season but it did take a long time to find a club for him, so it looked like a move which was designed to put him in the shop window in the hope that some money could be recouped for him.
Interestingly he’s actually been brilliant in Belgium and it’s clear that Oostende want to keep him, but their President also admitted in a recent interview that he could have some other suitors too:
“We lend it with purchase option. If we give that option and we can convince him, he will stay with us longer. Then we need to see what we can do for each other.
“Jack certainly feels good here, but given his outstanding performance, there are of course hijackers on the coast. I hope we can convince him that KVO is the step for him to the national team and to a further beautiful football future.”
This could come down to the type of agreement that Celtic have with the Belgian side, as it does sound like it’s in their interests to bring him back and either give him a chance or sell him to the highest bidder.
We have seen with some loan deals recently that the team with the option to buy will reach an agreement with the player to trigger it before flipping them for an immediate profit, so that would be a nightmare for Celtic as Oostende would see the financial benefits of that deal.
It’s good to see him doing well in Belgium and it’s also possible that a new manager might rate him enough to include him in the team next season, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out.