Premier League Leicester City paid £13m to sign Benkovic from Dinamo Kiev before loaning him out to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic.
New Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Filip Benkovic is a big part of his plans at the King Power Stadium, in quotes reported by the Scottish Sun.
The Foxes paid £13 million to sign the Croatian centre-back from Dinamo Zagreb last summer, as reported by Sky. And Rodgers knows him well, having coached Benkovic during his spell on loan at Celtic north of the border.
The pair are now set for a reunion, with Benkovic’s contract with the Scottish Premiership champions set to run out at the end of the season.
And the Northern Irishman has confirmed to the Scottish Sun that the 21-year-old is set to become a key player at Leicester in the near future.
“Filip is a terrific player and I know him very well,” said Rodgers, who lost his first game in charge of the 2016 Premier League champions against Watford on Sunday. “He’ll come back in the summer.
“Filip is very mature for a young boy of 21. He’s very imposing at 6ft 4in and very dominant in both boxes.
“He can play, reads the game well and is a really nice lad too.”
When he was still the manager of Celtic, Rodgers told the Scottish Sun that he would have jumped at the chance to sign Benkovic on a permanent basis. Now, however, it seems that any hope they might have had of keeping the youngster in Glasgow has evaporated.
Benkovic could replace the veteran Wes Morgan at the King Power Stadium next season.
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