Celtic target Jack Hendry suggested in 2015 he looked up to ex-Hoops centre-back Gary Caldwell

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Jack Hendry spent some time with Celtic’s academy and has now been linked with a return to the Scottish Premiership side.

According to a report from the Daily Mail earlier this week, Celtic have joined a host of Premier League sides in the running to sign Dundee centre-back Jack Hendry.

Hendry earned the praise of Brendan Rodgers earlier in the season, the Mail reports, but it would appear that the Hoops face a big fight trying to tempt the 22-year-old to move to Parkhead given that Southampton, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are all considering offering him a ticket to top flight football in England.

But perhaps the fact that he came through the ranks at Celtic Park before he got his senior career up and running at Partick Thistle just hints that the Hoops could have an advantage, especially when you consider comments that he made to The Scottish Sun in 2015.

Hendry had just left Thistle to join Wigan Athletic, meaning that he was working under former Bhoys defender Gary Caldwell, who was, at that stage, the Latics boss – and he confirmed at the time that Caldwell was a player that he looked up to when he was trying to make the grade with Celtic.

“I spent seven or eight years at Celtic, until I was about 15. Gary was at the club then and I looked up to the centre-halves,” he said, as reported by The Scottish Sun.

Gary Caldwell

“I looked up to him in the sense that was where I wanted to be. Now he’s my manager it will help me a lot.

“Gary was a centre-half and he knows the position inside out.

“He told me he’d been impressed with me and likes the way I play. He sees a bit of himself in me.”

The Premier League offers that are reportedly set to be put on the table are likely to be tempting for Hendry, but perhaps his links to Celtic just hint that he would find it difficult to turn them down if Rodgers also gave a bid the green light.

Hendry may not have made the grade at Celtic the first time he was attached to the club, but perhaps he may relish the chance to return and prove that he can follow in Caldwell’s footsteps.