Leicester: What’s really happening with the unfavoured Filip Benkovic

Leicester City centre-back Filip Benkovic hasn’t really had a proper chance with the Foxes and Brendan Rodgers clearly doesn’t rate the Croatian.

Rodgers just doesn’t rate Benkovic. Or, as the Northern Irishman once stated, he ‘doesn’t consider the Croat ready’ for the Premier League. Some would suggest that means, at age-24, Benkovic will never be fully prepared or set to go in the English top-flight.

However, Leicester find themselves with a centre-back deficiency – but still denied Benkovic an opportunity in competitive competition, irrespective of a decent enough showing in pre-season.

So the defender finds himself in limbo. Confounding Benkovic’s uncertainty is the fact that Rodgers selected two goalkeepers for the substitute bench versus Norwich City; an odd move from the gaffer when quality youth is also available, it must be said.

Below is an educated guess on what’s next for ‘Benko’:

"“I suspect, if he [Benkovic] can find a club, City would be open to letting him go. There are still a few countries with open transfer windows (Russia, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey), so if a club there bids for him, I imagine it will be considered. But there’s no loan market as such where he can now go to an EFL team.“If he’s going to be here but only able to play with the Under-23s, that feels like another missed opportunity to try to get him to fulfil his potential.”– Jordan Blackwell, Leicester Mercury"

What is Hamza Choudhury’s Leicester City status?

Choudhury is another out-of-favour Fox; an academy graduate who is well-known and liked around the club having been there for years and never letting the side down, really.

Though surmounting Nigerian interceptor Wilfred Ndidi will be an impossible task for the Englishman, unless injury or a transfer changes the scenario. Then there is also Papy Mendy for the latter to contend with. Boubakary Soumare signing ultimately ended Choudhury’s chances of attaining or obtaining a starting eleven place at Leicester.

Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United have wanted Choudhury for over a year now, and they have not been able to secure their ‘man’. It’s also understood that Newcastle favoured a loan deal, while the east Midlands team preferred a permanent sale. No agreement emerged.

According to Leicester Mercury, the Foxes are searching for a temporary switch for the Croat; Choudhury and/or Mendy are presumably on that ‘ship out’ list, too.