Philadelphia Union defender Mark McKenzie has effectively issued a ‘come and get me’ plea to Celtic ahead of the January transfer window.

Sky Sports are reporting that the United States international is “high up” on the Hoops’ list of centre-back targets next month and, when asked about a possible move to Scotland, McKenzie said he would relish following in the footsteps of someone like Virgil van Dijk:

“I’ve done my fair share of research and I’ve always loved football so I’ve known about Celtic for a while. You hear about Celtic and the path of Virgil Van Dijk – going from there to the Prem. I’m no dummy when it comes to understanding the leagues. I have a general idea of what the leagues look like and keeping up with who is at the front of the pack in the league race and tournaments. I know about Celtic and the league – and a lot of other leagues. But it’s an exciting time, though.”

McKenzie has been linked on and off with Celtic over the past year but the Scottish champions have never made an official approach for the player. Instead, manager Neil Lennon opted to sign Shane Duffy on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer.

So far, the Republic of Ireland international’s move north of the border has not worked out and strengthening the club’s centre-half options will be a major focus for Head of Football Operations Nick Hammand when the window opens in January.