Puel was asked about Celtic’s interest in Benkovic on Thursday.
Leicester City manager Claude Puel has been quoted by BBC Radio Leicester as saying that defender Filip Benkovic could leave on loan before Friday’s deadline, after being linked with Celtic.
The Daily Mail claim Celtic are interested in signing the 21-year-old Croatia youth international on loan this summer, with just over 24 hours remaining in the Scottish transfer window.
The Hoops are expected to bring in a new central defender before then, with doubts remaining over Dedryck Boyata while criticism continues to surround the performances of Jack Hendry and Jozo Simunovic.
Asked whether Benkovic, who only joined Leicester on August 9 from Dinamo Zagreb for £13milion (Sky Sports), Puel claimed a loan is indeed possible which will come as a transfer boost to Celtic.
“What I can say about Filip is, we will see if he has a possibility to go out on loan,” Puel said. “But, I’m happy to have this player because he’s talented. We want to continue to develop him, but we have a lot of centre backs”
Benkovic made his debut for Leicester on Tuesday night as The Foxes beat Fleetwood Town 4-1 in the second round of the Carabao Cup. The defender entered the fray for the remaining 28 minutes of the match.
Leicester already boast plenty of options at centre-back including Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans, Wes Morgan and new signing Caglar Soyuncu who joined the club from German outfit Freiburg.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
