Hibernian boss David Gray has spoken about the future of Thibault Klidje, who is due to report back for pre-season training at East Mains two weeks from today. And Gray has tackled the subject of the £1.5 million striker’s January move to Danish club Randers – by insisting that it was never part of a plan for the club to cut their losses on their most expensive summer recruit. Despite Hibs breaking their own previous record to land Klidje from Swiss club Luzern in the summer, the 24-year-old failed to make an impact at Easter Road. Unable to nail down a starting place and scoring just four goals in half a season, he was moved onto Randers late in the January window. The Danish side then revealed that, as part of the loan agreement, they had an option to buy the Togo international at the end of the season. Klidje’s lack of game time in the Superliga, the forward scoring just once for a team who narrowly avoided relegation from Denmark’s top flight, meant Randers were never going to take up the option. And Gray is adamant that Hibs hadn’t planned the loan with the intent of making a quick sale. “The idea behind the loan wasn't an exit loan,” he told The Evening News, the gaffer adding: “Not by any shape or form. It was definitely an opportunity to go and maximise his game time, and try to get as many minutes as we could. It just didn’t work out like that for him.” Klidje did finish the season strongly in Denmark, his only goal coming in a full 90-minute performance as Randers grabbed a vital 2-2 draw at home to Odense. And he at least got game time in the closing 5-0 loss to FC Kobenhavn, lasting 70 minutes before being replaced by one-time Hibs transfer target Musa Toure. “You're across every game to make sure,” said Gray, when asked how closely he’d kept tabs on his player. “He's not played the minutes he would want, a lot of sub appearances, but all he can do is keep working hard and keep waiting for opportunities. We're always across the game to see how many minutes he's played. Ideally, you want him to start every single game, the same as when we take players on loan, the parent clubs want him to play all the time. It doesn't always work like that, but he just had to keep going and just hope for opportunities.” Hibs report back to pre-season training on June 22 and, with Grant Hanley the only player involved in the World Cup, Gray should have big numbers to work with from day one. Klidje, who signed a three-year deal last summer, will definitely be part of the group. “He will be back here, yeah,” said the manager. “He's under contract - and he's only one year into his contract. He just falls into part of the group again. One of several forwards, at this moment in time. He’ll be one of the forwards I’m looking at. So Owen, Ante, Martin and Thibault will be the strikers in the building on day one of pre-season, unless something comes up for any of them, to be honest.”