Barry Ferguson ‘surprised’ over Rangers stance on Lawrence Shankland, notes £6m Hearts quandary
Barry Ferguson has been left “surprised” that Rangers haven’t made an offer to sign Hearts forward Lawrence Shankland in the January transfer window.
Writing on the Daily Record website on Friday (12 January), the pundit said the Scotland international looks “every inch” a Gers number nine as he questioned why the club haven’t made the Jambos make a decision on allowing their captain to leave Tynecastle.
He added that the Edinburgh club may decide a transfer is not worth considering for the 28-year-old as third place in the SPFL could be worth about £6million through qualifying for Europe.
“Shankland can play in more than one role too which is another string to his bow,” said Ferguson. “He has proved at Hearts that he can operate in deeper areas and play behind a main striker.
“But, for me, he looks every inch a Rangers No.9 and I’m actually a little surprised that a concrete offer hasn’t gone into Tynecastle already just to test their resolve. At the very least, give Hearts a decision to make.
“They may decide it’s not worth considering because third place in the league could be worth around £6million in European qualification.”
Worth a go
There is absolutely no harm in Rangers at least making an enquiry with Hearts about how much they would be willing to let Shankland leave for in this window.
He is the best forward in Scotland at this moment in time and that’s exactly why various clubs, including Celtic, have been credited with an interest in signing him.
He’s registered 18 goals and three assists in 28 matches for the Jambos so far during this campaign, including 13 strikes in the SPFL to lead the goalscoring charts.
While the likes of Cyriel Dessers has been faltering and Danilo has been struggling with injuries, the Scotsman could come in and add some ready-made quality at this level to Philippe Clement’s options.
But while there is no guarentees that Steven Naismith’s side would part with their star man, if the Light Blues could get him through the door, he could be the difference between them winning more trophies or not this season.
In other Rangers news, an overseas journalist has made a “serious” admission about an exit-linked Gers player.