When it comes to Filip Benkovic, it seems that Brendan Rodgers is as frustrated as anyone by the ongoing malaise of a defender who has not come close to replicating the stellar showings of that brilliant Celtic spell.
It is almost two years since the £13 million centre-back returned to Leicester City following a trophy-laden, treble-winning season north of the border at Parkhead.
But, between the summer of 2019 and the winter of 2021, he has not made a single Premier League appearance for the Foxes; a fact made all the more surprising when you consider it was Rodgers who got the best out of Benkovic during his time on loan in Glasgow.
According to the Leicester boss, it is a combination of fitness and form that has held Benkovic back in England.
“We need to get Filip playing,” Rodgers told the Sun in December.
“When he was with me at Celtic, he played against RB Leipzig (in the Europa League) and he was sensational.
“Really since that first 10 games at Celtic, he hasn’t maintained a level of fitness and performance that I know he can.”
Benkovic didn’t exactly set the world alight during a period at Bristol City last term and his most recent spell away from Leicester, in the Championship with Cardiff City, was brought to a premature end today after just 70 minutes of football in three months.
It says a lot about the impression Benkovic made at Celtic – and the dismal standard of defending seen at Parkhead this season – that many Hoops supporters would take the injury-hit Croatian back in the blink of an eye.
Maybe a return to where he played the best football of his short career is exactly what the Zagreb-born 23-year-old needs.
But with a long-standing hip injury taking their toll on his development, it is impossible to escape the thought that Benkovic’s reputation is only going one way.
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