Benkovic surprise Euro cup place

Three miss out

FILIP Benkovic has been handed a place in Leicester City’s Europa League squad, with three players cut from the list, writes Jordan Blackwell.

The Croatian defender, who did not appear to have a future with the club, is named in City’s 24-man line-up for the competition, with James Justin, Wesley Fofana and Papy Mendy the trio to miss out.

Benkovic, pictured, has not played a competitive game for City since January 2020, and endured unproductive loan spells last season,

playing just one game across stints at Cardiff and then OH Leuven.

He featured in pre-season, but was then left out of the side that travelled to Norwich for City’s last outing, even though the club was short enough on players that Danny Ward and Eldin Jakupovic had to be named on the bench.

But he appears to have been given a lifeline with inclusion in City’s Europa League squad, the group stage beginning next week with a home clash against Napoli.

Fofana is unsurprisingly absent. The Frenchman is not expected to be fit until some point in 2022. City can re-register players if they make it to the knockout stages of the tournament.

James Justin is also injured, but is predicted to be back in full training from October.

While that means he would likely miss the first three group-stage matches, there was hope he would be available for the second half of the pool. However, he now will not be able to feature.

Mendy is the last player to miss out. After Hamza Choudhury’s failed loan move to Newcastle, the Senegalese international’s future seemed up in the air, and his omission from the Europa League squad adds to those doubts.

The transfer window is still open in Russia, Turkey and a few other European countries for a few more days.

City were only able to name a 24-man squad, rather than the 25 maximum, because they do not have four over-age club-trained players.

As they only have three – Harvey Barnes, Choudhury and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – they are not permitted to register a full complement.

Left-back Luke Thomas does not have to be registered as he is a clubtrained player under the age of 21.

The 24-man Europa League squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Ward, Eldin Jakupovic Defenders: Ricardo Pereira, Timothy Castagne, Ryan Bertrand, Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, Daniel Amartey, Jannik Vestergaard, Filip Benkovic

Midfielders: Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, Hamza Choudhury, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Boubakary Soumare, James Maddison, Marc Albrighton, Harvey Barnes, Ademola Lookman Forwards: Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez, Kelechi Iheanacho, Patson Daka