Lawrence Shankland's Emotional Move to Rangers
Lawrence Shankland is cutting his holiday short. Not for pre-season fitness work, not for a Scotland camp, but to board a flight back to Glasgow and walk into the club he grew up supporting.
Rangers are closing in on the Hearts captain, who is travelling home to undergo a medical and seal a free transfer to Ibrox, with a two-year deal on the table and an option of a third. A clause in his Hearts contract allows the 30-year-old to walk away for nothing – a brutal outcome for the Tynecastle side, a gift for Rangers.
Boyhood dream, captaincy talk
Shankland has agreed personal terms with Rangers, according to reports, and is poised to swap maroon for royal blue in what will be one of the most emotive moves of the Scottish summer. He grew up a Rangers fan; now he is about to lead their line.
The move is significant enough on its own. The noise around it is even louder. There is already talk that Shankland could go beyond simply being Rangers’ new No 9. Football Insider report that the Scotland striker may be in contention to overtake Emmanuel Fernandez and Nicolas Raskin in the leadership hierarchy and emerge as the club’s next captain once the deal is done.
From Hearts skipper to potential Rangers armband in one leap. If that happens, it would be a statement not just about his goals, but about his presence in a dressing room that has been searching for a new focal point.
Rangers reshaping the spine
Shankland is only one part of a broader rebuild at Ibrox, with Rangers clearly intent on reinforcing the core of the side.
At centre-half, they have been told they will need to go hard if they want Luke Graham from Dundee. Portsmouth had a bid knocked back in January; Rangers, Football Insider report, must now outbid the English club to land the 22-year-old this summer.
Out wide, the Djeidi Gassama story is not finished. Rangers rejected a £10m loan-to-buy proposal from Monaco in January, but both the 22-year-old winger and the club are said to be open to revisiting a similar structure in the coming window. The market has moved. So has Rangers’ squad. The numbers around any new approach will be watched closely.
In midfield, Dan Neil is on the radar. The 24-year-old, out of contract at Sunderland after ending the season on loan at Ipswich Town and helping them into the Premier League, is set for talks with Rangers, according to reports. A player fresh from a promotion campaign, available without a fee, ticks a lot of boxes for a club trying to balance ambition with budget.
One target might already have slipped away. Hull City’s promotion to the Premier League has complicated Rangers’ interest in Joe Gelhardt. The Leeds United forward hit 14 goals on loan at Hull this season; that form, and Hull’s new status, will drive his price and expectations up. What looked a smart, opportunistic move now looks a lot harder to pull off.
Celtic’s own decisions to make
Across the city, Celtic face a very different kind of summer: one of retention, resolution and a few sharp calls in the market.
Kelechi Iheanacho has made his position clear. The Nigeria striker wants to stay at Celtic, and the club hold an option to extend the 29-year-old’s deal by another year. The decision now sits with the board and the manager’s office. Goals are expensive; continuity might be cheaper than the alternative.
On the left flank, Marcelo Saracchi will not be part of that future. Talks over turning the 28-year-old’s loan into a permanent move have stalled, and he is heading back to Boca Juniors for the second half of their season, according to reports in Argentina. Celtic must now revisit their plans at left-back.
Inside the camp, there is intrigue around Reo Hatate. Former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has claimed the Japan midfielder’s absence from the side is down to a fallout with interim manager Martin O’Neill. The club have not publicly aired any such dispute, but the situation underlines how delicate this period is for Celtic as they navigate managerial uncertainty and player futures simultaneously.
One of those futures could involve Alfie Devine. Preston North End have until 1 June to trigger a £4.5m clause to make the Tottenham Hotspur forward’s loan permanent. If they hesitate, Celtic are ready to explore their interest in the 21-year-old, according to Football Insider. A missed deadline in Lancashire could open a door in Glasgow.
Robbie Keane, linked with the Celtic manager’s job, has also moved a piece on the board. He has resigned as Ferencvaros head coach after finishing second behind Gyori ETO in Hungary, saying “the time is right for me to move on”. His availability adds another layer to the managerial picture Celtic must clarify quickly.
Careers looping back to Scotland
Scottish football’s web stretches far beyond Glasgow, and this summer it is tugging at a few familiar names.
Juninho Bacuna has looked back at his short spell at Rangers and pointed to timing. The Volendam midfielder believes Steven Gerrard’s departure from Ibrox cut short his chance to properly establish himself there. Now 28, he is focusing on helping Dick Advocaat’s Curacao in a World Cup warm-up against Scotland this month – a neat collision of past and present Rangers influences.
In Aberdeen, Kusini Yengi is waiting on a call that could define his next move. The 27-year-old striker believes he can still fight his way into new manager Stephen Robinson’s plans if he returns to Pittodrie. Yet his future is tangled in contract detail: Cerezo Osaka, where he has been on loan, do not want to pay a fee after injury cut his spell short. If Aberdeen cancel his deal, Japan remains an option. If not, he comes back to prove a point.
Hull City’s Oli McBurnie, meanwhile, insists there are “no hard feelings” with Scotland head coach Steve Clarke after being left out of the World Cup squad. The striker has his club future and the Premier League to focus on now. International doors have a habit of reopening when form demands it.
On the touchline, Russell Martin is on the move again. The former Rangers head coach has travelled to Italy and Spain to speak with clubs about managerial roles, while Leicester City, fresh from relegation to League One, also want him, according to reports. His next decision will say a lot about how he views his own trajectory: rebuild a fallen giant in England, or test himself in a different football culture abroad.
A summer that will shape the rivalry
Shankland’s flight back to Glasgow is more than a travel detail. It symbolises a summer where both Rangers and Celtic must get big calls right.
Rangers are trying to rebuild a spine with Shankland, Graham, Neil and a possible resolution over Gassama. Celtic are weighing up Iheanacho’s option year, replacing Saracchi, resolving Hatate’s situation, and deciding whether Devine and perhaps Keane fit into their long-term picture.
Every signing, every contract clause, every managerial move now feeds into one question that will hang over Glasgow until the window shuts: who will emerge from this summer stronger when the next title race begins?
