Rangers transfer news: Fabrizio Romano doesn’t rule out Lawrence Shankland from Hearts live on Deadline Day stream
Fabrizio Romano was asked directly on Deadline Day if Lawrence Shankland will be moving to Rangers and he was unable to rule it out.
On his Kick stream on 1 February the Italian transfer guru was asked live at 7.02pm on a “Shankland to Rangers” update by one of his colleagues, with Light Blues fans desperate for news on a late deal for a striker.
In response Romano hesitated and said: “I don’t know, yet.”
The Hearts captain has been subject to high levels of speculation heading into January and throughout the window, but amid new contract offers from the Jambos his future is still unconfirmed in the final hours of the market.
Rangers are said to see him as the “ideal” addition to the squad behind the scenes, but nothing concrete has emerged.
Wishful thinking?
At this late stage of the window the chances of such a big move happening have to be fairly remote, but if there was nothing at all to the possibility then Romano would have presumably expressed doubt at the very least.
If it could happen then it would be a huge statement for Philippe Clement’s side as they look to overturn Celtic in the SPFL title race but it is going to be very difficult.
There have been suggestions that if he wasn’t ready to commit his future to Tynecastle this month after a new deal was put on the table then Steven Naismith’s side would have to sell.
But they are no-doubt going to be even less open to letting their captain go at this late stage than they would have been anyway, when there isn’t time to bring in a replacement with whatever money they could get for him.
Although he currently has 18 months left on his deal he likely wouldn’t be cheap for Rangers to get hold of at this stage if the door is actually ajar heading towards 11pm.
Money has been found to commit to a “huge” move for Mohamed Diomande but it won’t be spent until the summer, so whether the Gers can afford to pressure Hearts in the final hours of the window is unclear.
In other Ranger news, paperwork has been singed ahead of a Deadline Day arrival at Ibrox with an announcement now imminent.
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