Rangers-supporting ‘prolific goalscorer’ Lawrence Shankland has officially signed for Belgian First Division A club K Beerschot VA.
Shankland grew up a Rangers fan and was pictured at Ibrox for a Europa League clash against Spartak Moscow in 2018 during his time at Ayr United.
It was around that time that he started to find the net regularly in the Championship and the Gers were credited with interest in him during the 2018/19 campaign [Scottish Sun], after his 2019 move to Dundee United [Daily Record] and in August 2020 by Talking Football host Bill Young.
However, the Light Blues were never suitably convinced to make a formal offer.
With a dream move seemingly not on the cards for the time being, Shankland has decided to head overseas for a new challenge.
On Wednesday morning, it was confirmed that the 26-year-old had signed for Beerschot on a three-year deal.
The Belgian top-flight club paid Dundee United an undisclosed fee for their star striker, with the figure reportedly in the region of £1m [90min.com].
“Lawrence is a prolific goalscorer and that is what Beerschot needs at the moment”, said the Belgian club’s technical manager Sander Van Praet [Beerschot.be].
The bluenose Scotland international will begin training with his new club on Thursday but won’t be available to play until all of his paperwork goes through.
The Belgian league is one the Rangers scouts are fond of, with the club snapping up Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe from Genk and Anderlecht respectively in recent windows.
Therefore, while Shankland has left Scotland, he will still be playing in a region that’s monitored closely by the club’s recruitment team and if he does indeed score prolifically for Beerschot, Rangers could revive interest in the future.
In other news, Rangers fans have criticised Steven Gerrard for a major selection decision against Malmo.
