Brendan Rodgers has opened the door for Celtic to land Filip Benkovic on loan for a second time.
Brendan Rodgers has told the Daily Record that if he decides to send Filip Benkovic out on loan again this summer, he would want the centre-back to head back to Celtic.
Benkovic joined the Hoops shortly after moving to Leicester City in a £13 million deal last summer. The 21-year-old has struggled with injury at times this year, but he has been extremely impressive whenever he has played for the Bhoys.
The Croatian may be looking forward to his return to the King Power Stadium, with Neil Lennon leaving him on the bench in recent weeks with Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic enjoying a fantastic run alongside each other.
But Rodgers has suggested that Benkovic could be loaned out again next season, and if he does decide to let him go, he would want him to return to Parkhead.
“Filip’s situation is one I’ll certainly look at. But there’s no doubt that if I want him to go out on loan again, I’d want him to go to Celtic,” he told the Daily Record.
“Of course, I’ll have a conversation with the player and I think he’s a big talent. But we’ve got four really good centre-backs here with big experience in Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Wes Morgan and Caglar Soyuncu.”
In fairness to Lennon, Ajer and Simunovic have been so impressive lately, so dropping either would be extremely harsh, especially as they have had no midweek games to worry about since early April.
And with Benkovic returning to Leicester as far as the interim Celtic boss is concerned, it makes more sense to focus on the players that are most likely to be with the Hoops again next year. But the Bhoys board are likely to be delighted by Rodgers seemingly opening the door for Benkovic to potentially return for another season.
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