Leicester City-owned defender Filip Benkovic was in action for Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic in the Europa League on Thursday.
Rodgers was impressed with the performance of Benkovic for Celtic in their Europa League Group B match against Rosenborg at home this week.
The Scottish Premiership side got the better of Rosenborg 1-0 at Celtic Park on Thursday evening, thanks to Scotland international striker Leigh Griffiths’s goal in the 87th minute.
Benkovic, who joined the Hoops on loan from Premier League club Leicester City in the summer transfer window, started the match and played for the entire 90 minutes.
Celtic manager Rodgers was impressed with the shift put in by the 21-year-old Croatia Under-21 international central defender, who moved to Leicester from Dinamo Zagreb in August for a transfer fee reported by Sky Sports to be worth £13 million.
Rodgers told The Scottish Sun: “I thought Filip was good. He is just finding his way.
“When the ball comes into the box and you are under a bit of pressure from set-pieces and crosses, you’re looking at a centre-half who can really go and head it.
“I thought he was very good at that. He will find more comfort the more he plays and once he understands how we play a bit more.”
Promising talent
Benkovic’s performance for Celtic against Rosenborg was mature and assured, and it is clear that the 21-year-old is a very promising young centre-back.
Celtic were smart to sign the Croatian on loan from Leicester in the summer transfer window.
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