Another player has made their way out of the Celtic Park exit door, this time centre-half Jack Hendry is the man leaving the Hoops behind as he heads out on loan again, this time to Oostende in Belgium, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
Neil Lennon appears to be either trimming his squad or making way for new arrivals and now has just one recognised senior keeper and two experienced, out-and-out centre-halves with Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed also capable of deputising.
The Parkhead gaffer will now be looking to fend off interest in Kristoffer Ajer with AC Milan rumoured to have made a bid only for the club to rubbish the claims, but there appears to be no smoke without fire from the Italian giants.
Nick Hammond and Lennon have been conducting their business in relative secrecy with the pursuit of Fraser Forster the only really obvious deal they are trying to get done, having secured the services of Mohamed Elyounoussi for another season the forward line remains as strong as it did last season when it was well on course to break all sorts of goalscoring records.
Defence does remain a concern though and despite Hendry’s status as a fringe player, with Lennon favouring a back three in 2020, he could have been more comfortable with the extra numbers around him – it was his ability on the ball that first drew Brendan Rodgers’s attention and the formation could have benefited the Scotland international.
He still has two years left to run on his deal with Celtic and after an injury interrupted spell in Australia the defender will be keen to get a consistent run of games and – given the dearth of options currently available – maybe even give Steve Clarke a decision to make.
Whether he has a future at Parkhead or not, the deal represents a good bit of business for all parties concerned but Hoops fans will be glad that the transfer window is finally open so that they can start seeing faces coming in the opposite direction.