Lawrence Shankland is now anticipated to leave Hearts on a free transfer, which means that the long-awaited move to Rangers may finally happen.
The Scotland international has been linked to his favourite team, the Light Blues, for over a year, but no deal has yet been confirmed.
This is in spite of the fact that, following Sam Lammers’ summertime sale to FC Twente, Philippe Clement had private conversations internally before deciding to recruit the striker [Daily Record, 29 July].
Even though the goal scorer was intrigued, Shankland’s price tag was said to be a major factor in his reluctance to transfer [Scottish Daily Mail, 1 July]. The Jam Tarts were expected to demand a multimillion-pound fee even after the 29-year-old entered the last year of his contract.
However, after turning down every attempt at an extension, Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay has now acknowledged that he anticipates the captain to finish out his contract and sign with another team in the summer.
According to the Daily Record (10 October), he stated: “We would be pleased to speak with Lawrence or his aides if they would like to resume conversations. My impression is that Lawrence will most likely serve out his contract based on all of our conversations and the lack of interest I’ve seen.
“No one has ever mentioned that to us or given it to us. That appears to be the obvious outcome of our current course, in my opinion. You would gladly have the conversations, but as of right now, nothing of that like exists.
Hearts have struggled as a team the past two seasons, and Shankland’s scoring record thus far this season is significantly below those levels.
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