Standard is once again targeting very affordable players this winter. One of the management leads leads to Filip Benkovic.
A player without a contract since this summer and the end of his adventure at Udinese, Filip Benkovic is one of those free profiles who have not missed Standard’s radar.
According to SudInfo, the Rouches have placed the 27-year-old defender well on their list, the core must be reinforced in this position. Like Bosko Sutalo, who arrived for free from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer, Benkovic is a compatriot of Ivan Leko who is looking to revive his career.
When he was only 21 years old, Leicester paid no less than 14 million to snatch him from Dinamo Zagreb. The English then loaned him out several times. His first stay outside the King Power Stadium proved conclusive: the Croatian established himself as a starter in the Celtic Glasgow defense under the orders of Brendan Rodgers.
Former Leuven ghost player
But what followed was much less encouraging: his loans to Bristol and Cardiff were real failures…just like the one to Louvain. Benkovic therefore already knows the Pro League but has only seen it from afar, not playing a single minute at Den Dreef.
A record which is equal to his playing time at Leicester, for whom he ultimately never played. The Foxes therefore sold him for free to Udinese three years ago. In Friuli, the native of Zagreb hardly established himself in the team, but his last two seasons on loan (at Eintracht Braunschweig and Trabzonspor) still allowed him to find rhythm.
A rhythm that he lost again with this six-month period without a club. As is often the case with free players, this will be a point to watch out for if the Standard take the plunge to sign him a contract.
