By David Williams
Filip Benkovic could be moved straight from Cardiff City to Celtic after his loan deal from Leicester City was cut short.
The Croatian defender made just one appearance for the Bluebirds after moving on loan at the start of the season.
But with Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers keen to give Benkovic some game time following his spell in the shadows at Cardiff, it’s understood the centre-back could be moved straight on to Celtic, where he spent a season on loan two years ago.
Cardiff manager Neil Harris seemed thoroughly unsure over Benkovic – giving the 6ft 4in 24-year-old just one outing away to Wycombe at the end of last month, where Cardiff crashed to a 2-1 defeat.
The former Dinamo Zagreb player came on as a 20th minute substitute for injured Sean Morrison and could not steady a rocking defence as they fell to defeat against the Championship’s bottom club.
In a statement, Cardiff said: “Cardiff City can confirm that Filip Benkovic has been recalled by parent club Leicester City.
“We’d like to thank Filip for his services and wish him the best for the future.”
Rodgers appears to have little need for Benkovic in his Premier League squad, while Celtic are understood to be keen to re-sign the defender after suffering a number of injuries.
Benkovic played 20 matches for Celtic in the 2018-19 season, but Rodgers has said the player still needs more game time if he is prove himself. In the past 15 months, he has only played 11 games.
“He needs to play games and at the minute he’s not playing at Leicester and now he’s not playing at Cardiff,” Rodgers said.
“It’s something where we need to get Filip playing. He needs to get working again and show the level he can play at.
“Thankfully for myself, I’ve seen the level. When he was with me at Celtic he played against RB Leipzig and he was sensational.
“Really since that first 10 games at Celtic, he hasn’t maintained a level of fitness and performance that I know he can.”