Philadelphia Union chief Ernst Tanner has confirmed Celtic made an enquiry for their defender Mark McKenzie.

The Scottish Champions are in the market for a defender this transfer window and it looks as if the American centre-back is on the list of possible recruits.

Tanner doesn’t mention when the approach was made but does admit he rebuffed Celtic, telling the club nothing would be decided until the future of the MLS was sorted.

“We have had interest. There was a talk with Celtic, but I told them: We were not willing to talk before the [MLS in Back] tournament or during the tournament, but maybe then later on.” Tanner told RecordSport.

“Will they come back? That is not in my obligation. That is up to Celtic. There is obviously a little bit of an interest, but there are so many players in the market at the moment.”

McKenzie, 21, is a towering centre-back who was born in New York City. From what I’ve seen of the player, he’s very raw but has potential.

Celtic want to have competition for places as well as having enough centre-backs to be able to revert to a 3-5-2 whenever Neil Lennon thinks it’s appropriate.

Right now, we’re pretty bare in that area after letting Jozo Simunovic go. Could McKenzie be someone to plug the gap left by the Croatian.