It has been reportedly revealed by Sky Sports’ Mark Benstead that Rangers ARE interested in Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, but that conditions would need to be met for the deal to happen.

Allegedly speaking to Sky Sports, the reporter said thus:

“Rangers still want to bring in a forward player and there is interest in Lawrence Shankland of Hearts. I’m told that the figures involved if that was to happen would not be insurmountable – it could be done straightforwardly. But they will perhaps have to move some bodies off the wage bill first and will need a common consensus that he is the right player to go for.”

He goes on:

“There’s a lot of interest within Rangers, but also some doubting voices who think they should go for someone else. They also need to be mindful of the fact that Hearts will need to bring in a replacement, so they can’t drag their heels in too much.”

Now, we’ve seen this quote online, but cannot find any evidence it took place, with a certain site stating this quote uniquely and alleging Benstead reported this to Sky Sports News.

But we can find nothing else on this – was it a broadcast? A report? A website article since removed? We’re unclear.

And it seems a little precise for it to be fiction.

If there’s one thing we can’t accuse certain Rangers sites of, it’s fabrication. Maybe using our name for clicks in places, and not being fully interested in the good of the club, but generally it’s not fiction.

So we tend to think this quote is true. Whether Benstead is actually correct we couldn’t tell you, but we do know the club is interested in Shankland, but getting the financial package together has proven more tricky than it really should be.

And, going by Benstead’s comments, if accurate, there’s a lack of unified support over Shankland with some board members and recruitment staff not completely in favour of making the move for him.

This could be as much the problem as putting the money together.

The money is there, but there’s wrangling over agreement about investing it in Hearts’ captain.

If that is true, if there is a battle at the heart of the club over whether or not to move for the guy, we can only point at the Jim McAlister payout instead recently for how this board seems to be sliding backwards towards division and poor decisions.

Shankland is a must-sign, and if some people in the higher echelons at Ibrox don’t think so, they might not have our club’s best interests at heart.