Brendan Rodgers and Celtic have had a fantastic week, with the Old Firm giants winning two big games both at home and in Europe.
On Saturday evening, the Hoops put their closest championship challengers to the sword with a 6-0 League Cup success over Aberdeen, before defeating Germany’s second-best team, RB Leipzig, 3-1 in the Champions League.
Much attention will likely be focused on the Glasgow side’s offensive brilliance during the last few days, but appreciation must also be given to the club’s newfound defensive resilience, with only one goal conceded in that time.
The arrival of summer signing Auston Trusty – who was “phenomenal” against the Bundesliga side, according to Chris Sutton – has certainly helped matters, though his compatriot Cameron Carter-Vickers remains the key asset at the heart of the defence, with the 26-year-old also opening the scoring at Hampden Park over the weekend.
Trusty & Carter-Vickers versus 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 finished
0/1
3/3
Clearances
4
2
Tackles
3
2
Blocks
1
1
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 failing to reach the Dutchman’s levels in the years before.
Celtic’s candidates to replace Van Dijk
In truth, not much needs to be said about Van Dijk’s effect in Scotland during his two-year stay at Celtic Park, with former manager Neil Lennon putting it best when he remarked that the former Groningen player simply “had everything”.
Following his eventual departure to Southampton in the summer of 2015, and later joining current club Liverpool, the Hoops attempted to fill the vacuum, albeit with varied results.
As Van Dijk left, Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic joined, and future years saw a mixed bag of newcomers, including Kristoffer Ajer, Kolo Toure, and Marvin Compper.
Perhaps one of the closest to duplicating Van Dijk was Christopher Jullien, whom Lennon described as having “similar attributes” to the Netherlands star, despite injury finally destroying the towering Frenchman’s dreams of a consistent run in the side.
Prior to Jullien’s arrival, however, there had been a short period in which an on-loan star appeared to be able to fill Van Dijk’s shoes in Glasgow, with a certain Filip Benkovic making a brief but lasting impact on the Hoops.
Celtic’s next Van Dijk is now struggling
Signed on a season-long loan from Leicester City in 2018, the Croatian giant made an impression in his one season in Scottish football, despite only making 27 appearances in all competitions.
As The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin highlighted when reviewing the club’s top loan acquisitions since 2000, Benkovic is certainly deserving of a mention, having been ‘hugely excellent’ before to sustaining an injury late in the 2018/19 season, establishing himself as a ‘full contemporary centre-back’.
Unsurprisingly, that early effect piqued the interest of fans and commentators alike, with former Hoops hero Frank McAvennie among many to give the Zagreb native a good review, comparing him to that man Van Dijk:
“Benkovic has arrived, and gosh, what a fantastic player. He intends to reach the pinnacle of success. He will be similar to Virgil van Dijk, and Celtic should acquire players of this caliber.
“I understand Benkovic is on loan, but I would love for us to acquire him. If you invest £15 million on the boy now, you will get at least £25 million and a few years from him, plus an add-on when he moves on.”
Unfortunately for the 6 foot 4 titan, such accolades are now a distant memory, having endured a tragic career decline since dazzling at the age of 21 in Scottish football.
After returning to parent club Leicester in 2019 – then under Rodgers’ management – Benkovic went on to make only two senior appearances for the Foxes, having spent the previous few years on loan at Bristol City, Cardiff City, and OH Leuven.
Those three temporary stays yielded only 11 games in all, with the struggling centre-back – who had been linked with a return to Celtic in January 2021 – eventually leaving the King Power Stadium for free in 2022, having previously cost the club £13 million.
A move to Udinese followed, but after loan spells in Germany and Turkey, the 27-year-old was released by the Serie A club this summer, leaving him without a club when he should have been in his prime.
For a player who once promised so much at Dinamo Zagreb and later at Celtic, this is a tragic turn of events, and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to resuscitate his faltering career in the near future.
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