Rodgers may cut his losses and sell ‘sensational’ star
FILIP Benkovic was supposed to be a Leicester City starter by now.
But three years after his arrival, he has still only made two outings in blue and none in the Premier League.
A once extremely promising career has taken worse and worse turns over the past two years and left the centre-back needing a revival.
An injury in the summer of 2019 saw Caglar Soyuncu steal a march on Benkovic in the battle to replace Harry Maguire.
Then a lack of football in the first half of the season saw the former Dinamo Zagreb man head to Bristol City on loan, where more minor injuries stopped him from putting a run of games together.
Ahead of last season, City manager Brendan Rodgers did not mince his words: “He’s not ready to play in the Premier League yet. That’s pretty clear. That’s the brutal honesty of it.”
The only way he would reach the level Rodgers wanted was through a run of games and a sustained spell of fitness, neither of which he had in the previous campaign.
And so he went to Cardiff but made one 70-minute error-strewn performance.
He was recalled and sent to sister club OH Leuven. There, he didn’t play a single game.
So after two seasons of regression, City might now be at the stage where they consider cutting their losses on the £13 million Croatian.
He’s got two years left on his deal, and right now, they might still be able to recuperate a bit of the fee they paid for him in 2018.
But there may also be doubts over getting rid of him too early because City, and particularly Rodgers, know the heights he can reach.
When he first joined Celtic on loan, the club then managed by Rodgers, Benkovic was outstanding.
He won his aerial battles, passed the ball forwards with confidence, and defended strongly, with composure.
And this wasn’t just in Scottish Premiership matches, but in Europa League games too.
As Rodgers said at the end of last year: “Thankfully for myself, I’ve seen the level.
“When he was with me at Celtic he played against RB Leipzig and he was sensational.”
It could also be argued Benkovic has been unlucky over the past year.
He did achieve one of the two goals set for him in retaining his fitness.
He may have only played once during his loan stints at Cardiff and Leuven, but he was an unused substitute for 21 matches, so was there to be called upon if needed.
Unfortunately for Benkovic, getting chances on loan as a centreback is perhaps more difficult than any other outfield position, as teams tend to rely on settled partnerships, while there is less need for rotation in terms of bringing in fresh legs.
This is not the case of a player who has never fulfilled their potential, but rather one who was doing so but then lost their way. And he’s only just turned 24, so time is on his side.
But if City do give him one more chance, they need to find somewhere for him to take it. Because if he wasn’t at the desired level at the start of last season, he is not going to be now after a year sat on the bench, but neither would being City’s fourth or fifth choice aid his development.
He has been linked with a return to boyhood club Dinamo Zagreb, but if City are going to find him a loan side, it really does need to be one where he will play.
That is the only way Rodgers, City, and maybe even Benkovic himself, will find out if the “sensational” player that was seen briefly at Celtic can ever return.
CROATIAN CENTRE-HALF BENKOVIC HAS STRUGGLED TO LIVE UP TO HIS REPUTATION FORGED AT CELTIC