A loan out with an optional future fee I think is the best we can hope for. He'll be into the third year of his deal having played virtually no football at any level for 2 years. It sounds cruel but ask yourself, would you expect anything at all if we signed a 25-year old on a three year deal who was coming off a serious, serious injury? In that scenario no one would even expect that player to make the bench if the squad was close to full strength.
It's no one's fault but we can't afford to just carrying on being in denial about the reality of the situation. His career here will never amount to anything because of circumstances, he's not the first and probably won't be the last.
