Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has refused to guarantee whether Filip Benkovic will be integrated into the Foxes’ first-team squad ahead of the 2019/2020 campaign.
The Croatia Under-21 international was recruited by the Foxes from Dinamo Zagreb last summer, but he was instantly loaned out to the Hoops under Rodgers for the season.
Benkovic has since impressed for the Scottish champions with a combined 24 starts in the league and Europe, but he is widely expected to return to parent club Leicester during the summer.
In a press conference covered by The Mail, Rodgers highlighted how Benkovic’s loan stint at Celtic was intended to get him ‘game-time’ and he was impressed by the defender’s showing during his time at Parkhead.
The ex-Liverpool boss added that the Croatian would be returning to pre-season with the first-team, similarly to other loaned out players, and a decision would thereafter be made regarding his future.
“The whole plan for him was to get him game time. We took him up to Celtic which was a huge club with big pressures to play. He has done very well. All the loan players will look to come back and then we will decide where we will go from there.”
At present, Harry Maguire is regarded as the leading performer at the heart of Leicester’s defence, and he has been accompanied by Jonny Evans and Wes Morgan regularly, with Caglar Soyuncu waiting in the wings.
Moreover, skipper Morgan has recently penned a new contract until the summer of 2020, and this may indicate Rodgers’ ambition to stick with the same combination and possibly encourage another loan spell for Benkovic.
