Lawrence Shankland has finally and at long last ‘admitted’ that an exit from Hearts isn’t impossible amid links to Rangers next month getting stronger and stronger.

The Scotland international, 28, has been associated with Rangers his entire career, with links for an Ibrox switch intensifying ever since his Gorgie form exploded, and it’s been widely understood overtures have been made by Rangers officials in that direction.

Word has clearly got to Shankland himself and he couldn’t reject the story:

“Possibly (a departure). But, that’s way above my pay grade. I don’t deal with that. That’s for the club to deal with. I’ll just concentrate on keeping scoring goals and hopefully winning games.”

And he didn’t stop there:

“Have you got a crystal ball I can look into? Listen, I’ve got a year and a half on my contract, I’m enjoying my football and I’m scoring goals. Speculation follows you when you’re doing well. I don’t see it as anything more than that and I won’t until the future. When you’re a goalscorer teams look at you like that but it’s a sign that I’m doing well and I take it as a compliment and keep trying to do my job well and score goals.”

When a footballer utters comments like this rather than ‘I’m focused on xxx, I’m happy here’ it’s about as clear as it gets.

Shankland is hoping this move happens, he would love to get the move to Rangers he’s wanted all his life – he seems like a player that would have come through our own academy indeed, one who slipped through our fingers, but he’s a Queens Park product.

And he’s a dyed-in-the-wool Rangers fan who’d give the club everything he has, and be an all-important natural Rangers man in the squad, something we desperately lack at present.

This move could well be happening but we shall see.