“Very, very big club” – is hitman on the verge of Rangers switch?

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“Very, very big club” – is hitman on the verge of Rangers switch?


The Lawrence Shankland rumours are continuing unabated, with Ayr manager Ian McCall’s deliberately mischievous teasing comments about the offers the lad has now as a free agent, having seen his time in the Championship end successfully.

As we know, the prolific hitman is absolutely the best striker outwith the SPL, and is considerably better than many in it, and has the choice of many options now with which to make his next big move.

But McCall’s tease has only set the tongues wagging over whether or not one of those offers was from Rangers.

He said:

“There may be the option of a very, very big club, but would he play there every week, to take that next step and kick on again? One of them, it’s a club in Scotland and you need to be really mentally strong. That’s something I think Lawrence has, but the only way you find that is if you go through it. You can’t predict that, it’s something you have to live through to find out if you have it.”

The 23-year old is highly sought-after, and is a truly lucrative free agent having had the season of his career at just the right time to secure a mammoth move. He is in a position of real negotiating power and has all the cards at his disposal, and frankly we think that’s a good thing. He’s earned the right to take his time and go for the best option for himself.

As for McCall’s comments; as a former Rangers player himself, the most telling part of his testimony was ‘the only way you find that is if you go through it’. Because, McCall did go through it and did so with a reasonable level of distinction even if his time at Ibrox wasn’t the most memorable historically. A healthy number of appearances in two seasons in Govan was McCall’s lot, and he managed to just about handle the pressure.

Whether Shankland would go on to supersede his former manager only time will tell, but we can safely say the rising star of Scottish football is one we would very much like at Ibrox.

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Has to be a buy. Low cost, low risk. If Alfredo goes, we will be without a lead striker. We may have a new lead striker in mind, eg McBurnie, in which case great. But if we don't, we may wish to take a couple of guys in and try them.
    We have Hardie, Dallas and Rudden with varying degrees of potential. Shankland is a little older and more experienced, albeit at a lower level than Hardie. The only way to find out is to try him.
    If we sign him and then we get a lead striker, who takes Shankland's jersey, we loan him to a Premier league club, where he scores against our rivals – good. If he scores the goals to win the fight, great. But our outlay over a 4 years contract will be about the same as 12 months of Herrera or Pena. I am pretty certain he will outplay and outscore them.
    This is low risk. If he goes elsewhere and succeeds, we will not be able to afford him

    • Totally agree. Being a bluenose too will also help him I'm sure! Would rather take Shankland than waste another £2m on a Grezda etc.

      I think we need three good striker options next season. Defoe, Shankland plus a 6"4 aerial striker who can mix it up a bit. These three would give us the options we need. We will only play one at a time so three is enough. Alfredo will leave so not counting him…

    • 6'4"? I hear Kyle Lafferty is available.
      Shankland is a punt but unfortunately that is the market we have to operate in. It's either oldies like Baines and Hutton, Bosmans like Jones and Hastie or untested youngsters from lower divisions. He would be a relatively cheap option who could be loaned out or sold on if he can't get enough game time.

    • Exactly. I am not saying Shankland will be our number 1, but a replacement for Morelos will be. Defoe and Shankland will spell him out, Shankland can be judged in training and against weaker opposition to see if he has it. Worst case scenario, if he doesn't have it, lend him to a lower SPL club to give him a chance to prove himself, as Hardie has done.
      But there is no cost to this gamble, so it is hard to see why we wouldn't. A proven striker of the quality we need will start at £20 million, so they are not happening. If we get £20M for Alfredo, we could go £10M for McBurnie and maybe another £10M for Kent, that's the money gone. Quality costs, so we have to take chances. And we have decent strikers coming through who can be loaned out for experience as well.
      This is the future, but cheap, develop, sell on, repeat. No proven names, we can't afford them. But the club and Gerrard are attractions

  2. God, I hope not , an average player scoring goals in a piss poor league , not what we need at all nor is that donkey McBurnie for that matter .Being a Rangers fan doesn`t make you a good signing ,look at Halliday .

    • wlgers, we are shopping in Poundland. Many strikers are better, but not coming. Same for every proven striker. So we go for unknowns, or past its. Being a Rangers fan doesn't make you good enough or I would be playing for them. But it can help secure a player that we couldn't afford otherwise.
      McBurnie is not the greatest, but we can't afford the greatest. IF he came, his allegiance would be part of the draw for him.
      Can you think of anyone that you would say is good enough to score the goals that we need, that we can afford, that would come?

  3. Would he really be an improvement on Hardie, Dallas or Rudden. Obviously that's for Gerrard and Allen to decide but I doubt it. A bit like Nicky Clark. A good player who can score goals at a lower level but not Rangers material. I think we would be wasting his and our time.

  4. Donald, you may well be right. Jimbo the same. BUT, what will it cost us to find out? Pennies. IF he works out, he is older and has more goals scored than Hardie. He can be there until one of the younger guys proves themselves.
    The main arguement against him seems to be if he was any good, someone else would have got him by now. That is tru for any player over 16, FFS.
    How do we know he can only score in the lower leagues, i don't think he has played SPL. Hardie scored less goals in the Championship and has scored in the SPL. If Shankland can outscore Hardie in the SPL, we have a decent player. We may not be fending off Arsenal next summer, but he could work for us.
    My point is it is a very low risk gamble. Alternatives will be much more expensive, with no guarantee that they will do any better.

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