Have Celtic hinted there will be no move for Filip Benkovic?

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Celtic have today included Filip Benkovic’s name in a list of players they wish every success in the future.

The Hoops today put out an unusual post on their official website announcing players who have departed the club. They have included all of the players who are out-of-contract and have been released.

This has included the likes of Dedryck Boyata, Dorus de Vries, and Benkovic from the first-team to name a few. Reserve players such as PJ Crossan, Wallace Duffy, and Thomas Caffrey have also been released.

But it was the name of Benkovic that caught the eye. You can read the official post on the Celtic website here, but below is the following statement where Benkovic is concerned.

“Celtic Football Club wishes Dorus all the very best in his future endeavours, and extends the same gratitude to departing players Emilio Izaguirre, Cristian Gamboa, Regan Hendry, Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig, Filip Benkovic, Scott Allan, Youssouf Mulumbu, Oliver Burke and Jeremy Toljan.”

Does Benkovic’s name mean anything?

Call us cynical, but this doesn’t read well if we’re getting Benkovic back next season. It reads as though the club is finally saying goodbye to all those who have left over the summer. It would be unusual to then haul Benkovic back in the door.

Hopefully, if we don’t go for Benko, this is a move away from the loan side of things and a look at sorting out our problems permanently. Even if we signed Benkovic, we would still be at the same stage next season in terms of needing a centre-back in the door.

Benkovic has, of course, claimed he is open to returning to Parkhead once again (Scottish Sun). But the statement from Celtic has to put some real doubt into that.

Of course, perhaps you could say we’re reading too much into it. You could be of the train of thought that, if Celtic are thanking departing players, they can’t just leave Benkovic out.

That’s fair enough, but they could’ve sent the message once the transfer window has closed and all departures have been confirmed. Using Benkovic’s name in a statement like this just fuels doubt in the mind of the supporter.

There is nothing further to the Celtic statement outside of that. Nothing on whether any players could return, but you wouldn’t expect that in any case.

No offer has been reported from Celtic to Leicester for Benkovic. Perhaps that’s another key sign that we aren’t too interested in him this summer. In any case, this statement certainly points that way.