John Hartson tells Rangers they ‘have to’ sign Lawrence Shankland as multi-million verdict shared
John Hartson has told Rangers that they “have to” sign Lawrence Shankland in January to break Celtic’s dominance of the Scottish Premiership.
Philippe Clement’s Light Blues currently sit five points behind Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic at the top of the Premiership, but the Gers do have two games in hand and could close the gap to two points if they win the Old Firm clash at Celtic Park.
While Rangers have a great chance of pipping the Hoops to the title this season, Hartson believes that they still need a new number nine to win the title this season, suggesting signing Shankland is now a must.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show (27 December, 32:50) he said: “I think Rangers have to think of the now. If Rangers want to challenge Celtic for the title, if Shankland becomes available, they have to go and buy Shankland now I think.
“If Rangers can get him for £3 million and then potentially you look at this season, you go on and win the title, Shankland goes on and gets you another eight goals. You act in the now, you don’t look too far ahead.
“You look how dominant Celtic have been over the last 12 years, you want to stop that dominance and the way you can do it is by bringing in a centre-forward now and getting this season out of the way.
“Potentially, you could win the title and then you deal whatever to come in the summer.”
Stop the dominance
Throughout the early stages of the season, it has been clear that Rangers have been missing a centre-forward capable of scoring 20 goals a season in the Scottish Premiership and Shankland would solve that problem.
The Scottish international’s finish against Hibernian on Wednesday (27 December) was an example of just how clinical and effective he can be in front of goal as he slotted in calmly in the closing stages to win the Edinburgh derby.
Shankland’s goals in the second half of the campaign could be the difference in the race for the Premiership title, as Hartson suggested and it will only boost Rangers’ chance of lifting silverware if they have the 28-year-old in their ranks.
Whether it is as cut and dry as the Welshman has suggested remains to be seen and Clement may well have different targets on his agenda when January rolls around. But it’s clear, most in Scotland believe that Shankland may be the perfect fit.
In other Rangers news, the Gers assistant coach Stephan Van Der Haydan has reacted to the postponement of the clash with St Mirren