Ofir Marciano has opened up on his decision to leave Hibs as he admitted 'anything can happen in football' when asked about a possible return one day.
The former Easter Road No1 decided he wanted a new challenge towards the end of his final season and that he would not be renewing his contract in the capital. The Israel international established himself as a fans' favourite during his time at the club but felt after five years in Leith it was time to move on.
He initially penned a loan deal before signing a permanent long-term stay from Ashdod. After seeing out his four-year contract he became a free agent and was snapped up by Dutch giants Feyenoord. He didn't need to think twice about accepting an offer from the Eredivisie side as he opened up on his Hibs exit and finding his new club. Speaking to Football Scotland, he said: "I always felt that I didn't want to feel too comfortable. At Hibs at some point I felt too comfortable, it was like a home for me.
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"I really enjoyed playing there, training there and all the people and everything. But it felt too comfortable.
"A football career is really short and I really wanted to challenge myself so I took the option to go as a free agent and try to increase my chances to get a decent move.
"I'm happy that I did it because it was a really great time at Hibs for me but I think I got to the point where I did enough for the club and the club did enough for me, and it was time to move on to a different challenge.
"I had a couple of offers, it was quite early in the summer so I was quite lucky that a big club like Feyenoord approached.
"You often see a lot of free agents, it can be the end of August and they still don't have a good option. So as soon as I got the offer from Feyenoord I knew that this was the challenge I was looking for.
"I came to challenge myself to be better, to improve and it I didn't think about it really. I just knew it was the right decision."
Football is a funny old game and it is one to always expect the unexpected.
Marciano put that statement into practice as he cited Martin Boyle's shock return to Easter Road as an example of not knowing what's around the corner when asked about a potential return to Hibs one day.
He didn't overly commit to the idea, but at the same time never ruled out the prospect.
He added: "One thing I learned in football is that you never know.
"There is always some things that happen.
"Who thought that Martin Boyle would come back after one season? Anything can happen in football but at the moment I'm in a really good club and happy."
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