Lawrence Shankland breaks silence on Rangers transfer speculation as he gears up for Scottish Cup Semi-final with Hearts
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland has admitted he hasn’t given any thought to the Rangers transfer links and is completely focused on beating the Gers in their Scottish League Semi-final clash on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Scot international has repeatedly been tipped as a possible target for the Light Blues in recent seasons, and with Michael Beale’s summer recruitment proving largely unsuccessful the transfer question has arisen once more.
However, speaking ahead of Sunday’s semi-final at Hampden Park (via Daily Record, 3 November), the Hearts goal machine says his mind is on putting Rangers out of the cup rather than signing for them as it would be a “huge opportunity” to play in a League Cup final.
Asked if he’d given any thought to the Gers rumours, he said: “Not at all.
“My mind is on putting Rangers out the cup. That’s what we need to do this weekend and that’s what I’m looking to do. It is a huge opportunity for Hearts.
“The chance to go to Hampden and play in a semi-final doesn’t come along too often, but thankfully we’ve got ourselves in that position to go and play in one. So, we’re all looking forward to it.”
Not completely ruled out
It appears Shankland hasn’t completely ruled out a giant move to Ibrox in the future, as he is rightly only focused on Sunday’s crucial semi-final.
And it won’t take a genius to guess that if Rangers go out and hammer Hearts on Sunday, the 28-year-old international could well be tempted by the possibility of joining Philippe Clement’s revolution at Ibrox.
However, signing him may prove a bit of a dilemma given the plethora of strikers already at the Belgian’s disposal.
Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers and Danilo – Michael Beale’s summer acquisitions haven’t been far from criticism so far this campaign but their goal-scoring performances against Dundee United certainly present a glimpse of what they can do.
The question remains though, are they the type of finishers that the Gers need to topple Celtic in the long term? That very much remains to be seen, although, their chances will be boosted if they can swoop for one of the best Scottish Premiership strikers over the past few years in Shankland.
Surely, the 28-year-old is due for a big move in the summer and his comments suggest he hasn’t completely ruled one out in the near future, the question is whether Rangers have the bravery and resources to provide him with that platform given the strikers they already have.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has claimed that a Gers first-team player will jump at the chance to leave Ibrox as a transfer story has emerged recently.