Manager Can’t Believe Celtic Decision – ‘I don’t know what they are searching for’

The head coach of KV Oostende, Alexander Blessin, has seriously questioned Celtic’s judgement on allowing Jack Hendry to leave for so little.

The club have yet to confirm the deal, but it appears Hendry has signed a permanent deal with the Belgian club after a very successful loan spell.

The Hoops allowed Oostende to have the first option to buy for the pice Celtic bought the defender from Dundee under Brendan Rodgers. Hendry had made no impact at Celtic and was just back from a loan in Australia when he was sent back out to Belgium under Neil Lennon.

Jack spent his time wisely and became one of the highest rated defenders in the Juniper League, earning plaudits across the board.

It’s prompted Oostende to make the deal permanent and they could flip him for some serious cash this summer if a sufficient bid comes in.

Speaking to The Times, Blessin couldn’t answer why Celtic valued the defender so cheaply:

“No. I don’t know what they are searching for [if they are prepared to let him leave]. This is not my job to commentate on the role of Celtic; I can only say what I see daily and how I get a feeling for his performances.

“This is normally only positive and when I see his size, his speed and his change of direction, when we’re talking about the footballer of the future or the footballer of today, speed is very important.”

He added: “When I saw the videos before we signed him, I said he had really great skills and, for his size, he is quick, really fast and has good ball possession. He has good passing ability, he has a good insight, and his movement, changing direction, is very fast. He’s good in the header. He’s the absolutely complete defender: this was my opinion.”

Blessin didn’t rule out selling the player on but would ideally like to keep Jack for a little longer.

“I have a feeling that he may say ‘one more year’, really playing at this high level and getting games and getting in shape,” Blessin said. “But the question is sometimes, after such a long period of injuries, ‘Do I have to make a faster step into the big European leagues? I’m not 21.’ Is it now the right situation to make this step? This, I can’t give you an answer. Only he knows.”