Lawrence Shankland: Rangers set to sign Hearts captain & Scotland forward
Losing their captain and leading striker is bad enough, but losing him for little or no money could be considered insult added to injury. Phrases currently used are ‘undisclosed fee’ and ‘Rangers paid due amount’.
Shankland has a prolific record for Hearts against Rangers; He scored in a 2-0 win at Ibrox in September and secured wins against them at Tynecastle in December and May.
He scored in a 3–3 draw against Rangers in May 2024, and scored in a 3–1 defeat and a 2–1 defeat in November and October 2023. He is the most prolific striker Hearts have had since the great John Robertson.
Shankland scored 20 goals in a near-winning season for Derek McInnes’ side, some of which he missed through injury. He is pushing hard to start Scotland’s opening match of the World Cup against Haiti.
This will be a bitter blow for McInnes. Shankland and Hearts were in a bit of a stalemate at the end of the 2024-25 season; A long-running dispute between the club and the player’s representatives over pay threatened to see his end at Tynecastle.
When McInnes was appointed manager one of the main items on his list was to keep Shankland. He was insistent that he needed a striker and an agreement was reached. McInnes and Shankland worked perfectly together. Those days seem to be over. The summer transfer from Shankland to Rangers will take a toll.
