Reported Celtic target Mark McKenzie has managed to win the MLS Supporters’ Shield with Philadelphia Union in what’s a hugely impressive achievement for the 21-year-old.
The MLS playoffs are due to kick-off next month with McKenzie’s Philadelphia having long since secured their place in the finals.
The Supporters’ Shield is the award given to the club that finishes the MLS regular season with the most points. Philadelphia topped the Eastern Conference having bagged a fine 47 points from 23 matches. That’s three more than second-placed Toronto and more than Western Conference winners Sporting Kansas City.
Even better from a Celtic perspective is that McKenzie has played in all but one of those matches. He was once again in the Union’s starting XI for their 2-0 home win against the New England Revolution at the weekend. He unsurprisingly dominated as the clean sheet helped secure the Shield for Philly.
Celtic were linked with a move for McKenzie over the summer by Sky Sports. However, even though the transfer window deadline passed without a deal being done, Sky reporter Anthony Joseph reported that the club was still tracking his progress.
Celtic must keep tabs on McKenzie’s playoff displays
It’s an even more impressive achievement when you consider the fact that 21-year-old McKenzie helped win Philadelphia this competition for the first time in their history.
Sure, it doesn’t mean that they’ve won the MLS Cup – the biggest competition in the States – but it’s arguably a more impressive feat when you win the Supporters’ Shield given it follows a more traditional league format and requires more consistency.
The Audi 2020 MLS Cup playoffs will finalise on December 12th, when the MLS will officially come to an end and go into a three-month break. That leaves Celtic with the opportunity to make their move for McKenzie in January.
Almost eerily, the Hoops’ main issues this season have come from defensive lapses. Shane Duffy has yet to prove that he’s the answer, whilst Neil Lennon has been chopping and changing his backline around without finding a long-term solution.
That could easily see Celtic delve back into the market at the start of 2021 and attempt to lure McKenzie to Glasgow. The player himself has expressed an ambition to play Champions League football (MLSSoccer), and that’s something the Hoops could offer him in the long-term.
But for now, it would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn’t keep tabs on his progress in what will be the biggest games of his career. Let’s see how the Philadelphia youngster handles the weight of both expectation and pressure.
In other news, a 2014 Ronny Deila signing has been speaking fondly about his time at Parkhead.
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