Could be! Then Celtic can be telling him, “it’s not our fault, it’s those Motherwell bastards who won’t pay their share of your wages”.
I don’t know how the loan deals work but we had him on a season loan, with an option to recall him, obviously. However, once they recall him is that the original deal/terms cancelled or are the original loan terms still active? Maybe depends on wording in the contract?
If they had any decency or integrity they would send him back to us to complete the loan deal as originally agreed upon rather than put the boy on the shelf for half a season.