Lawrence Shankland has been linked with a move to Rangers throughout this transfer window and, with the clock ticking, this is only going to intensify.
The 28-year old hasn’t even been confirmed as a target of Philippe Clement, and yet, the Gers boss continues to be reported as keen to add the striker to his squad.
No stranger to Ibrox, Lawrence Shankland would probably jump at the chance to move to Rangers but has continued to display nothing other than the upmost professionalism for Hearts, a quality admired by manager Steven Naismith, as reported by The Herald.
Lawrence Shankland handling Rangers transfer pressure
Everyday there is a new Lawrence Shankland to Rangers story as the mainstream media looks to fill the void created by the lack of other speculation.
Gone are the days when journalists would have connections within the walls of Ibrox to the extent that even the chairman would feed lines to the press.
The modern phenomenon of the transfer journalist has seen the likes of Fabrizio Romano, Graeme Bailey and the emerging Luca Bendoni, who broke the Fabio Silva coup, create a social media network of agents and other journalists that allows them to be first with the exclusives.
With nothing else, it is easy to continuously provide comment on Shankland via questions asked to his manager or former players and pundits and whether or not they think it would be a good move.
Speaking about the speculation, Stephen Naismith has been quick to praise the Hearts skipper:
“I speak to the players most days and Lawrence is the same.
“I’ve tried to just pass on my experience from when I’ve been a player in these situations.
“If I’m honest, he’s dealt with it better than I’ve seen most deal with it and that’s it.”
Lawrence Shankland, other than a couple of missed penalties, has been unerring in his consistency despite continued rumours about a potential transfer to Rangers.
What this shows is that he has a strong mentality and only ticks another box that Philippe Clement is probably looking for.
There is more than a week still to go and the pressure is only going to intensify.
