Unfortunately, when Ibrox Noise preached the signing of Lawrence Shankland the past 12 months, almost every suggestion of his name was met, sadly, with derision, the idea that he wasn’t good enough, we should aim for better, you name it.
It must be said we disagreed strongly with these assertions, and we still do, and amid major transfer speculation linking Hearts’ captain with a move to Saudi Arabia, which he dismisses entirely, there’s no denying Lawrence Shankland’s stock has never been higher.
With four goals in all competitions already this season, Shankland, again, has proven his outstanding class, his undeniable quality, and his ‘SPL-readiness’.
Meanwhile Rangers’ striking additions this season have all bumbled around to varying degrees at a cost of £15M, convincing no one beyond the ‘give them a chance ffs’ brigade.
Shankland’s value? Rangers could have got him around the £3M-£5M mark – he wouldn’t have been buttons given his stellar performance for Hearts the past 12 months, but he’d have been a reliable and convincing SPL striker for Rangers, and, of course, that would heavily help the ‘Rangers fan’ concept Ibrox Noise’s Kirsty spoke about recently.
At the time of Colombia’s Alfredo Morelos’ exit, Rangers fans en-masse decided Shankland wasn’t good enough to replace him, or for our club.
Ibrox Noise suggested we might not be sure he was good enough for ‘Europe’ (albeit, does that even matter now) but he would have delivered domestically for sure. He has a convincing track record in that department.
He has a CV behind him which proves how much he’s developed, grown, and how strong he is in the bread and butter of Scotland’s top flight.
Hearts rated him so much they gave him the armband.
Was this a big missed opportunity? You can bet your backside it was. But Rangers make a lot of these.
Cedric Itten over Lyndon Dykes, Dessers/Lammers/Danilo over Shankland. We’re not saying Dykes or Shankland are Pele by any means, but they knew this league, and they wanted to come.
And has time has proven, they were and are good enough.