Hendry rejected offers in England to move to Celtic

Celtic new boy Jack Hendry says he turned down the opportunity to move back to England in favour of a move to Parkhead.

The defender was involved in a late piece of business on the final day of the transfer window between Celtic, Dundee and Hibernian which saw him move to Glasgow along with Scott Bain, while Scott Allan joined Hibs and Simon Murray moved to Dens Park.

Hendry’s future at Dee had been the subject to persistent rumours throughout January, and he revealed there was no chance he was going to go anywhere but Celtic after hearing of their interest.

“There was a lot of interest from down south,” he told Celtic TV.

“But there was only one place I wanted to come and that was Celtic.

“The coaching staff, squad, facilities and fan base, it ticks all the boxes for me personally.

“I want to strive in this kind of environment. I see myself as a winner, and there’s a winning mentality here so that’s something I want to be part of. I feel that suits me well.”

Part of the attraction of choosing Celtic – as well as returning to the club he left as a youngster – was the prospect of playing European football, with the Hoops still in the latter stages of the Europa League having played in the Champions League earlier this season.

And Hendry is excited about challenging himself on that stage.

He said: “If I fulfil my ability that’s certainly somewhere that I will look to play, and that’s one of the reasons I came to play here.”

It has been a long and less than straightforward road for Hendry, who at the age of 22 had just 56 first-team appearances to his name before making his Celtic bow in the defeat to Kilmarnock, but he feels he has learnt from a tough spell in England which saw him struggle for regular games in spells at Wigan, Shrewsbury and MK Dons.

“I felt I learnt a lot from that period,” he said.