Rangers and Celtic race left in balance amid ‘very surprising’ Sky Sports transfer update on Lawrence Shankland and Bojan Miovski
Both Rangers and Celtic face January transfer disappointment in their pursuits of star SPFL strikers as it has been deemed “very surprising” for either Lawrence Shankland or Bojan Miovski to move on this month in an update from Sky Sports.
Hearts captain Shankland, 28, has been widely linked with an Ibrox switch in recent weeks amid struggles with injury and form among the Gers forwards, ever since Philippe Clement admitted he had followed the “interesting” player since his days in Belgium.
The Hoops meanwhile have been tipped to move for Aberdeen star Miovski, 24, in what would be a record-breaking deal [Scottish Sun, 5 December], as both sides of the Old Firm look to boost their attacks.
With the Hoops eight points ahead of Rangers at the top of the SPFL after the 2-1 win at Parkhead on 30 December, but the Light Blues holding two games in hand, landing a premier goalscorer in Scottish football could be crucial in the emerging title race.
But speaking live on Sky Sports’ Good Morning Transfers on 3 January reporter Mark Benstead claimed it wasn’t expected for either front man to move on right now.
Benstead said (9.36am): “There is a key difference in as much as I think Hearts believe they can retain their player, they have no intention to sell their current captain and indeed they are making moves to offer him an improved deal to try and retain him.
“The slight difference with Miovski is that he was always bought with a view to then being sold on down the line. Aberdeen want to develop their player trading model.
“So it’s more likely he would go over Shankland. That said, I think it would be very surprising if either was to move in this transfer window.”
Clement will surely look to reinforce his forward line further before the end of the month despite the loan arrival of Fabio Silva from Wolves, with Danilo out long-term, Kemar Roofe repeatedly ruled out himself, and Sam Lammers struggling for form even worse than Cyriel Dessers.
Shankland looks like a perfect solution but would be an expensive proposition unless he suddenly pushed for the move, with the Jambos unsurprisingly not looking to lose him.
It might come as some relief therefore if Miovski is kept out of Brendan Rodgers’ grasp this month, as both sides of the Old Firm appear to have deficiencies as they gear up for a title race that looked long-gone during the dying days of the Michael Beale era.
If the top options for both Rangers and Celtic are unobtainable during the winter window it would leave each side to seek less-proven alternatives whose effectiveness in tilting the balance of the rest of the season is much harder to determine.
Gers supporters will be hoping that Clement spends what he has already confirmed will be a busy winter break sourcing a solid substitute option if Shankland is impossible, with a reliable source of goals potentially the difference between adding further silverware to the League Cup or not this term.
In other Rangers news, Chris Jack has named the “obvious” candidate if the Light Blues were to pursue a swap deal for the Tynecastle star.