Leicester City have made some questionable decisions on the transfer front in the last several years, including signing a player who cancelled his contract after two games in four years.
With their club now staring relegation in the face for the second time in three seasons, Leicester City fans want Jon Rudkin out.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for the Foxes, who have gone from Premier League Champions and FA Cup winners to sitting 19th in the top flight on a run of 11 losses from 12.
There are a number of reasons for Leicester’s decline in the last couple of years, but the recruitment led by Rudkin is clearly a major factor.
This season alone has seen Oliver Skipp flop following his £20m move from Tottenham Hotspur and Odsonne Edouard fail to score a single goal after he joined on a season-long loan from Crystal Palace in August.
One transfer made in 2018 by Leicester, however, proved to be a serious waste of money.
Leicester City let Filip Benkovic leave for free after £13m transfer
Back in August 2018, Leicester signed Filip Benkovic from Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb in a deal Sky Sports reported to be worth £13m.
The defender was only 21 at the time of his move and former Foxes manager Claude Puel dubbed him ‘exciting’ and spoke of his potential following the transfer, as per BBC Sport.
He said: “Filip is an exciting young player who has the potential to develop even more at Leicester.
“He has made a big contribution to Dinamo Zagreb over the last three years and has also benefitted from experiencing European football.
“I know he will give us some great options and competition in the squad and I’m delighted to have him here.”
Benkovic made his debut for the Foxes on September 28th, 2018, in the League Cup versus Fleetwood Town, coming off the bench for 28 minutes.
The Croatian then had to wait until January 4th, 2020 to make his second and final appearance for Leicetser, which came against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup and lasted 67 minutes.
Two years later, following a couple of loan spells, Benkovic left the Midlands after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract.
What is Filip Benkovic doing after leaving Leicester City
After departing Leicester for nothing, the now 27-year-old joined Italian outfit Udinese, whom he also made just two senior appearances for.
He eventually left the Serie A side in August 2024, once again on a free transfer, and had been without a club for several months.
Benkovic eventually found a new team on January 29th of this year, linking up with AIK in Sweden.
The centre-back has since made three appearances for his new team for a total of 171 minutes, already bettering his Leiceter total.