Filip Benkovic hopes he isn’t forced to leave Celtic in January

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Celtic landed Filip Benkovic on loan during the summer.

Celtic loanee Filip Benkovic has told The Scotsman that he wants to see out the season with the Bhoys rather than leave in January.

The Bhoys were linked with signing Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb in early 2017, and when Leicester paid big money to land him this past summer, it seemed that Celtic’s chance to sign the Croatian had gone.

However, Leicester already had Harry Maguire, Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans and fellow new boy Caglar Soyuncu at their disposal, meaning Benkovic ended up being available for loan.

Celtic pounced to land him on deadline day in August, snapping him up on loan until the end of the season, with the Croatian now a key part of Brendan Rodgers’ defence alongside Dedryck Boyata.

The problem for Celtic is that Leicester could still recall Benkovic in January, as Maguire has been struggling with injury of late, Evans has taken a while to get going, Morgan appears to be a little past his best and Soyuncu has only made three Premier League appearances.

Now, Benkovic has admitted that he he feels he needs to play rather than sit on the sidelines at Leicester, which made him delighted to make the move to Celtic in the first place – and noted that he doesn’t want to be recalled in January, admitting that he wants to see out the season at Parkhead.

“Really, I can’t describe how happy I am to be here at Celtic,” said Benkovic. “I’m so proud and I’m enjoying every second of it. When this opportunity came up, I didn’t think about it at all. From my side it was clear – I wanted to make the move. I was so happy. I’m thankful to Celtic and Leicester for making it happen. The manager at Leicester looked at the situation and realised he had a lot of defenders. He wanted to give me a chance to play somewhere. I felt the same.”

“I only had one month at the club but in training I felt good at Leicester. It was a big difference from the Croatian league and it’s also different to the Scottish too. But I think I’m on the right track to eventually be part of Leicester’s team. I really want to be here all season. I want to win trophies for Celtic. That is why I play football. I want to win things and enjoy it with the fans. For me, that is priceless. I hope that I will stay here until the end of the season,” he added.