Exiled Hibs striker given encouragement over potential Easter Road return

Hibs haven’t closed the door on the possibility of exiled striker Dylan Vente returning to boost the front line, according to boss David Gray. And the Dutchman has been urged to carry on rebuilding his confidence with PEC Zwolle between now and the January window.

Vente is on loan back in the Netherlands for the rest of the season, having been allowed to move on by Gray just 12 months after becoming a £700,000 signing for Hibs. The forward enjoyed an early scoring burst at Zwolle and, despite not finding the net since September, has established himself as the team’s first-choice No. 9.

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Gray, still hoping that Kieron Bowie will be back from a serious hamstring injury in time to bolster a forward unit that includes on-loan Swansea target man Mykola Kuharevich and veteran former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle, said he wasn’t ruling out recalling a player under contract until 2026, insisting: “I think you've always got a future. You never know, I'd never ever close the door on anybody, absolutely not.

“He's still a contracted player, he's still a very good player, you can clearly see that, he's a goal scorer. But that would just be something that we address when it can actually be changed, or looked at, because at this moment in time, obviously the window's closed. I think it's great that he's gone out on loan and is playing and scoring goals. I think that's important for any striker, to want to be able to do that.

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“When you look at the group, you look at Kieran Bowie coming in - the decisions you make at the time, you do it for what you believe is the right decision at the time. And by the time January comes, Kieran will be getting close to coming back.

“When Dylan’s out on loan at the moment, nothing can change between now and Christmas. All he can do is keeps working as hard as he can, keeps trying to play games as he can and score as many goals as he can, because the more he does that, the better position he'll be in.”