Starting his career at Celtic, Jack Hendry did a big loop via Peterborough, Dundee United, Partick Thistle, Wigan, Shrewsbury, MK Dons and Dundee FC before returning to Parkhead for £1.4m in 2018.
A year and a half later, he was sent on loan to Melbourne City, where he stayed until May of this year, which was followed by a season long loan to KV Oostende in Belgium.
Despite his status of an ex-Celtic player, with 27 games to his name at the Scottish club, the 25-year-old took some time to get regular football with his new side, getting his first game five matches in against KV Mechelen, where he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory.
Happy with his choice and finding himself in a country where the football suits him nicely, the centre-back, who has an option to be bought in his temporary deal, explained to Sport/Foot Magazine just why he had to exile himself to the other side of the world, and then Belgium.
He said: “I was playing at Celtic and the pressure was enormous: you had to win every game. I could go outside without being approached in the street. I made a big step backwards by going to [Australia], but I needed calm, to empty my head, to only focus on football.
“At Celtic, I played in the middle with Boyata. It was good, but not always. I needed some air. Unfortunately, I quickly injured my knee, and then the pandemic struck, so everything stopped”.Hendry’s contract at Parkhead expires in 2022, and we’ll have to see whether or not Oostende trigger their option to buy.
If they don’t, whether it’s because they can’t afford it or simply don’t feel the need to, a decision will have to be made by the player and Neil Lennon next summer.
