The January transfer window is rapidly approaching and it's an important one for Celtic. On the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, the upcoming window is a chance for them to make key additions to their squad that can help them compete at that level, while also bringing reinforcements to help out with what will be a heavy schedule.

One area that's in need of a freshen up most is in the central defensive areas. It's a position that the club failed to strengthen in the summer, which has arguably had an impact on some of their results in the early part of the season.

There is of course no point in simply adding cover that can't challenge for first-team appearances, Celtic are in a constant search for improvement, so they need to find a player that can come in and hit the ground running in line with their ambitions.

One such player is £7.2m-rated Filip Benkovic, who has been linked with a move to the club in recent weeks.

Here are THREE reasons why the Hoops must make him a priority in the new year...

He has Champions League experience already

What Celtic need most of all is a defender that is capable of stepping up to the European scene seamlessly without the need for too much time in getting them up to speed.

Despite being just 20 years of age, Benkovic already has 15 appearances in UEFA competition to his name, including five group games from the 2015/16 Champions League. That's experience that could be crucial for Celtic as they continue their quest under Brendan Rodgers to turn domestic dominance into form that makes them a force on the continent again.

His young age means he has the room into an even more accomplished defender and his European experience means that doesn't come at the expense of having a player who knows what it takes to compete at the elite level.

Celtic's defence badly needs reinforcements

The problems Celtic have had defensively this season have been numerous. Fitness issues have been at the fore and they've failed to build a consistent partnership between any of their defenders due to them picking up injuries at different times since the summer.

Dedryck Boyata was out for the first couple of months and when he return he only managed to make a few appearances with Jozo Simunovic before the latter picked up an injury of his own. With Erik Sviatchenko also missing for months, it's meant that Brendan Rodgers has had to rely on midfielders like Nir Bitton to stand-in. The Israeli has made all of his appearances so far this term in defence.

Going ahead into the latter stages of the season would be potentially damaging to their trophy ambitions as they also focus on winning a seventh league title in a row. They badly need a quality option to bring in and start to build a classic centre-back partnership with one of the others.

He can be a strong partner to Jozo Simunovic

The contender to be a partner to Filip Benkovic would undoubtedly be Jozo Simunovic, who Celtic signed from Dinamo Zagreb at a similar age in 2015. Both Croatians by birth, they have youth international caps at U19 and U21 levels, although the older Simunovic has since switched allegiances to Bosnia and Herzegovina in search for senior international appearances.

Coming from a similar football backgrounds they could build the kind of partnership that Celtic are crying out for. It's been a number of years since Celtic had centre-backs that when you think of one, you immediately think of the other too.

Both tall, strong, powerful and possessing the ability to pass well from the back, they both have the attributes the Hoops are looking for and could be a cornerstone of Brendan Rodgers team for years to come.