Charleroi said they had an option to buy Benjelloun from Hibernian

Hibernian hope striker Abdessalam Benjelloun will return to Easter Road a better player as they confirmed his loan to Royal Charleroi.

The Belgian club had previously announced that it was a season-long loan with an option to buy the 23-year-old Morocco striker.

But Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen stressed that it was only until January.

"Hopefully, he will come back with a few goals under his belt and do that for us," he told BBC Sport.

"I want our quality players to be on form and, hopefully, when Benji comes back, he will do us."

The Moroccan international first joined the Edinburgh club in 2006 from his hometown outfit, Maghreb Fez.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Give your reaction to Benji's departure

He has scored 18 goals in 69 appearances for the Easter Road side, including two in the League Cup final win over Kilmarnock in 2007.

Meanwhile, Paatelainen will be without Merouane Zemmama, Steven Thicot and Kevin McCann for this weekend's trip to Inverness.

The club are also still awaiting international clearance for striker Steven Pinau, who signed on loan from Italian side Genoa last week.

Belgium goalkeeper Yves Makalamby is due to return from the Olympics next week after his country's involvement in the third/fourth play-off in Beijing.