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Celtic reported to be ‘hot on the trail’ of defender

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Celtic are reportedly hot on the trail of Mark McKenzie.

The Philadelphia Union defender is in action tonight against Sporting Kansas City with speculation that Celtic are ready to table a bid.

With Jozo Simunovic not offered a new deal Kris Ajer and Chris Jullien are the only tried and tested central defenders available to Neil Lennon.

Stephen Welsh, Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed provide options or cover but none of that trio has the pedigree or experience of the current first picks.

The Inquirer reports:

Scottish power Celtic is hot on the trail of Union centerback Mark McKenzie. His name has been all over Glasgow’s newspapers, though the proposed fee of around $1.25 million reported by Scotland’s Daily Record is too low for a sale.

Celtic is also reportedly watching Brenden Aaronson, as are Germany’s Hoffenheim, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Freiburg, according to multiple reports.

$1.25m equates to just under £1m on current exchange rates.

At transfer time it is easy for reports to bounce around from country to country. A report in the US can be converted to a price tag in Scotland then reported back as fact in the US.

With a £4.5m fee paid out for Vasilos Barkas Celtic have demonstrated that they will still pay top fees with only Jullien and Odsonne Edouard costing more than the new keeper.

McKenzie seems to be one of the rising stars of the MLS, captaining the US U-20 side at the 2019 World Cup Finals in Poland. With one full cap at the age of 21 Celtic would be hopeful that he would gain a work permit to play in the SPFL.

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