Former Celtic player Jackie McNamara believes that current Hoops defender Jack Hendry may be considering a possible departure from the club.
The 24-year-old has made just one appearance all season for Neil Lennon’s side, getting 11 minutes as a substitute in a Betfred Cup win over Partick Thistle, and Football Insider reported this week that several English clubs have expressed an interest in him.
Speaking to Football Insider about Hendry’s future at Celtic, McNamara said: “The centre-halves have done really well. You look at the ones who came in and have done well – last year [Filip] Benkovic and [Kristoffer] Ajer were very good.
“It’s not so much down to him, you can maybe look at the form of others that’s maybe stopped his progression. Another one that last year got injured, missed a big chunk of football and has not featured at all this year.
“I think he’ll want to play, aye, it’s inevitable he’ll be desperate to play, but there’s a number of players at Celtic feeling the same way. They do need a big squad for the four competitions they’re still in. The players will look to themselves to see if they’re going to get the opportunity to be part of it.”
McNamara is justified in saying that Hendry has perhaps been a victim of the success of other centre-backs at Celtic.
The 24-year-old made 11 appearances for the Hoops in 2017/18 after signing from Dundee in January of that season, getting a further 15 games last year.
However, since Lennon replaced Brendan Rodgers in February, his only game-time has been the 11-minute cameo against Partick Thistle in September.
Ajer was superb at centre-back for Celtic last season, with the Hoops conceding only seven goals in the 20 Premiership games that he played in that position in 2018/19.
Benkovic also played 20 times at centre-back in the Premiership last term, with just 11 goals scored against Celtic in those games.
Lennon added another centre-half in Christopher Jullien to his squad during the summer and the Frenchman has hit the ground running, with 21 appearances to his name already this term and two goals scored, although the Hoops have let in 15 goals with him in the side.
Whether Hendry will be “desperate” to leave Celtic is another matter, with the 24-year-old turning down a proposed loan move to Kilmarnock in the summer transfer window (as per Football Insider).
His continued absences from the Hoops’ line-up do not bode well for his prospects at Parkhead, though, and with McNamara pointing out that the impact of other centre-backs has only served to make it harder for Hendry to feature, it would be no surprise if the ex-Dundee man is now looking at a potential exit in January.
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