What a week it has been for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic, with the Old Firm giants marching on both domestically and in Europe with two statement victories.
On Saturday evening, the Hoops put their closest title rivals to the sword following a thumping 6-0 win over Aberdeen in the League Cup, prior to then seeing off the second-best team in Germany, RB Leipzig, with a 3-1 triumph in the Champions League.
Much focus will undoubtedly be on the attacking prowess of the Glasgow side amid that nine-goal haul across the past few days, although praise must also be centred on the club’s new-found defensive resilience, having conceded just once in that time.
The emergence of summer signing Auston Trusty – who was “phenomenal” against the Bundesliga side, according to Chris Sutton – has certainly helped matters, although his compatriot Cameron Carter-Vickers remains the key asset at the heart of the defence, with 26-year-old also opening the scoring at Hampden Park at the weekend.
Trusty & Carter-Vickers vs Leipzig | ||
|---|---|---|
Stat | Trusty | Carter-Vickers |
Minutes played | 90 | 74 |
Touches | 111 | 88 |
Pass accuracy | 97% | 98% |
Ground duels won | 5/5 | 3/4 |
Aerial duels won | 1/3 | 2/3 |
Possession lost | 3x | 3x |
Long balls completed | 0/1 | 3/3 |
Clearances | 4 | 2 |
Tackles | 3 | 2 |
Blocks | 1 | 1 |
Stats via Sofascore | ||
It has been said time and again, but Carter-Vickers is the “best centre-half” that the Parkhead side have had “since [Virgil] van Dijk” – as noted by former Northern Ireland international, Ryan McLaughlin – with many a centre-back having been unable to quite reach the Dutchman’s levels in the years before that.
Celtic’s candidates to replace Van Dijk
In truth, not much needs to be said of Van Dijk’s impact in Scotland during his two-year spell at Celtic Park, with former boss Neil Lennon putting it best when he said that the former Groningen man simply “had everything”.
Following his inevitable departure to Southampton in the summer of 2015 – prior to later joining current side, Liverpool – the Hoops sought to try and fill that void, albeit with mixed success.
As Van Dijk departed, in came the likes of Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic, while subsequent years also saw a mixed bag of additions in the form of Kristoffer Ajer, Kolo Toure and Marvin Compper, among others.
Perhaps one of the closest to emulating Van Dijk could well have been Christopher Jullien – who Lennon said had “similar attributes” to the Netherlands star – albeit with injury ultimately wrecking any hopes of a consistent run in the side for the towering Frenchman.
Prior to Jullien’s arrival, however, there had been a short period in which an on-loan talent had looked like being able to fill Van Dijk’s shoes in Glasgow, with a certain Filip Benkovic having made a brief, but lasting impression on the Hoops.
Celtic’s next Van Dijk is now struggling
Signed on a season-long loan deal from Leicester City back in 2018, the Croatian giant certainly made his presence felt in that solitary campaign in Scottish football, even despite making just 27 appearances in all competitions.
As The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin noted when discussing the club’s best loan signings since 2000, Benkovic is definitely worthy of a nod, having been ‘hugely impressive’ prior to sustaining an injury late on in the 2018/19 campaign, marking himself out as a ‘complete modern centre-back’.
Unsurprisingly, that early impact caught the attention of fans and pundits alike, with former Hoops hero Frank McAvennie among those to dish out a glowing verdict regarding the Zagreb native, while also likening him to that man Van Dijk:
“Benkovic has come in and, boy, what a great player. He’s going to go all the way to the very top. He will be just like Virgil van Dijk and that’s the type of players Celtic should be getting.
“I know Benkovic is on loan, but I would love for us to buy him. If you were to spend £15million on the boy now, you would get a minimum of £25million and also a few years out of him, plus an add-on when he moves on again.”
Unfortunately for the 6 foot 4 titan, such praise now appears a distant memory, having suffered a sad career nosedive since shining at the age of just 21 in Scottish football.
Having returned to parent club Leicester in 2019 – then under the care of Rodgers – Benkovic ultimately went on to make just two senior appearances for the Foxes, after enduring numerous stints out on loan over the next few years at the likes of Bristol City, Cardiff City and OH Leuven.
Those three temporary spells yielded just 11 games in total, however, with the struggling centre-back – who had been linked with a return to Celtic in January 2021 – ultimately leaving the King Power Stadium on a free in 2022, after previously costing the club £13m.
A move to Udinese subsequently followed, yet after time on loan in Germany and Turkey, the 27-year-old was released by the Serie A side this summer, leaving him without a club when he should have been entering his prime.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
For a player who once promised so much both at Dinamo Zagreb and then at Celtic, it is an unfortunate turn of events, with it yet to be seen whether he will be able to revive his floundering career in the near future.
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