Filip Benkovic. A player who promised so much, but after his time at Celtic, fell into obscurity just like his fellow teammate and countryman Jozo Simunovic.
Filip Benkovic arrived at Celtic on loan from Leicester back in 2018 and was heralded as an exciting capture albeit on a temporary basis.
Brendan Rodgers signed the big Croatian to bolster a defence which featured Filip’s fellow countryman and ex-teammate at Dinamo Zagreb Jozo Simunovic and he came with a good pedigree having signed for the EPL side for £13 million just a few weeks prior.
He started his career superbly in Glasgow and you could see why he was so highly rated. For the first part of the season he excelled and had everything required in a modern centre back. He was tall strong, athletic and good on the ball. It looked like he was going to the very top in the game.
Unfortunately though for us and Filip his Celtic career was start stop due to injury. A three month spell on the sidelines limited him to just 21 games in the entirety of the campaign.
Celtic won the treble that season, but Filip was on his way back to Leicester who were now managed by Brendan Rodgers after struggling to break back into the side on his return from injury due to the partnership of Jozo and Kris Ajer.
He failed to make an appearance under Brendan and was on the move again this time to Championship side Bristol City for the second half of the 2019/20 season.
Filip made 10 appearances for the robins before heading back to Leicester in the summer. But not for long as he was loaned out to the Championship yet again this time to Cardiff City.
However his spell in Wales was cut short after only three months and after making a solitary appearance he was recalled by Leicester only to be immediately loaned out again this time to Belgian side OH Leuven.
After failing to register a single appearance in Belgium Filip was yet again back at Leicester, but he wasn’t in Brendan Rodgers plans and was freed by the Foxes a year later having made just two appearances for the club.
The big Croatian made the move to Italy and signed for Serie A side Udinese where he’s spent the last three years making only two appearances and having yet more loan spells, this time in Germany with Eintracht Braunschweig and just recently Turkish side Trabzonspor.
Filip is now back at the Italians but his future is unclear, which is a shame as he had great potential to go far in the game. But just like his fellow Croatian Jozo Simunovic injury has sadly curtailed a very promising career.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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