Benkovic confirms his Celtic decision

Filip Benkovic has confirmed on Instagram that he won’t be returning to Celtic.

Leicester City paid £13m for the defender last summer but before he had played a single game in the EPL he was sent on loan to Celtic where he quickly formed a very effective partnership with Dedryck Boyata.

That pairing played a big part in Celtic getting out of their Europa League group at the same time as the Betfred Cup was clinched with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden.

After the winter break a leg injury effectively ended his season with Kris Ajer and latterly Jozo Simunovic playing in central defence.

Brendan Rodgers refused to rule out returning Benkovic on loan to Celtic this season but it is now clear that there will be no return with Leicester waiting to find out whether or not Harry Maguire will remain at the club.

Neil Lennon will be hoping that Christopher Jullien and Ajer can form his first choice central defensive partnership, last season the new hoops boss seemed very reluctant to use loan players with Timo Weah, Oli Burke and Jeremy Toljan used much less frequently when he took over from Rodgers.