The on-loan Hibs striker continued to raise his own profile by scoring a hat-trick in Sunday’s remarkable 5-5 draw with Rangers. On the same afternoon his parent club ensured they did not drop down to the third tier of German football with a 1-0 win over Erzgebirge.

It means he remains tied to Damstadt – a clause in his contract would have left him a free agent had they been relegated.

Maclaren fears Damstadt might now try to cash in on his goalscoring form for Hibs – he has struck eight times in 15 appearances, including four times in total against Rangers – and take him out of the Easter Road club’s price range.

Jamie McLaren celebrates his third goal for Hibs in the 5-5 draw against Rangers.

“Personally, I don’t want to go back to Germany,” he said. “I don’t want to stay there, to be honest, but I have a contract there until 2020. The club own me, so I will have to see what happens.

“If they ask me, I will tell them to listen to offers because I don’t want to go back.

“I will have a holiday, refresh my mind and then speak to my agent to see what’s happening.

“Until now my full focus has been on Hibs and I knew I would deal with it later. With Damstadt staying up, it will be up to them what happens. There was a clause if they were relegated.

“It’s out of my hands. What might happen is they see me as an asset who has gone away and proved them wrong.”

“I have enjoyed every moment at Hibs,” he added. “I owe the gaffer a lot for putting his faith in me and the team-mates I’ve had behind me have made me look good.

“If this is goodbye then I would like to thank everyone at Hibs because it has been great.”

Maclaren could not have dreamed of going out in such dramatic style – by completing his hat-trick with a last-minute equaliser in a game in which the teams shared ten goals.

“That was the craziest game I have been involved in,” he said. “I played in a semi-final in Australia where we were 3-0 up and got beat, but this one was 5-5. It was a great feeling to score an equaliser in the 93rd minute. That was my sixth professional hat-trick.

“We should have won the game but we are looking back on a season that became a history-making points tally for the club.

“The boys should be proud of that because throughout the full season they have been fantastic.

“We shouldn’t be too disappointed about not making second. The game last week against Hearts was probably an off-night but if you look at the whole season the boys have been fantastic.

“On Sunday when we went 3-0 up we probably thought we could get the six we needed but when you put so much effort in to get a fourth goal you leave yourself open at the other end. That’s what happened but we are not a team to lie down and I think scoring so late on showed that.”

Maclaren described Neil Lennon, who could be facing a ban after running on to the pitch to celebrate the striker’s late equaliser, as “one of the best” managers he has worked under. The striker was glad to hear Lennon has already gone back on a claim, made following last week’s derby defeat by Hearts, that he would consider his future during the summer.

“He has standards, there has been times we have been winning 2-0 and he’s still hammered us because it hasn’t been good enough for him,” said Maclaren.

“I think he’s a great manager to be under. The guys against him don’t like him but that’s why I think he’s good to play for. It’s great he’s committed to Hibs because he’s done a great job and should be proud of what the team has done.

“He will go away, refresh himself over the summer and come back to do it again because he’s a winner.”

Future out of my hands says Hibs striker Jamie Maclaren