Lawrence Shankland Set for Rangers Move Amid Scottish Transfer Buzz
Lawrence Shankland is cutting short his holiday and flying back to Glasgow, and that tells you everything about the scale of the move in front of him.
The Hearts captain is heading for a medical and the final formalities of a switch to Rangers, a free transfer triggered by a clause in his Tynecastle contract. At 30, with a two-year deal on the table and an option of a third, he is walking into the club he supported as a boy with the armband already being whispered about.
Reports suggest Shankland has agreed personal terms and could even leapfrog the likes of Emmanuel Fernandez and Nicolas Raskin in the captaincy stakes once he walks through the doors at Ibrox. From leading Hearts out at Tynecastle to potentially leading Rangers in Europe in a matter of weeks – it is a move loaded with symbolism and expectation.
Rangers, though, are not slowing down at one marquee addition.
The Ibrox recruitment drive has turned towards Dundee defender Luke Graham, with the Glasgow club told they will need to outbid Portsmouth to get him. Pompey saw an offer knocked back in January; Rangers know the price of hesitation in this window and cannot afford to drift if they truly want the 22-year-old centre-half.
Out wide, Djeidi Gassama’s future is back on the table. Rangers rejected a £10m loan-to-buy proposal from Monaco in January, but both the player and the club are now understood to be open to a similar structure this summer. The stance has softened. The market has moved. If the numbers match up, that door could swing open.
In midfield, Rangers are preparing talks with Dan Neil. The 24-year-old, out of contract at Sunderland after finishing the season on loan at promotion-winning Ipswich Town, fits the profile of an energetic, Premier League-tested option who can drop straight into Michael Beale’s engine room. He knows the tempo of English football. Rangers know they need that sort of edge.
Not every target will be so straightforward. Hull City’s promotion to the Premier League has complicated any pursuit of Joe Gelhardt. The Leeds United forward hit 14 goals on loan with the Tigers, and top-flight status at the MKM Stadium strengthens Hull’s hand. Rangers admire him, but the numbers and the player’s options now look very different.
Across the city, Celtic’s summer is already carrying its own intrigue.
Kelechi Iheanacho has confirmed he wants to stay at Celtic, with the club holding an option to extend the 29-year-old’s contract by a further year. Continuity in attack is a rare luxury in modern football; Celtic now have a decision to make on a striker who has publicly nailed his colours to their mast.
On the left flank, Marcelo Saracchi is heading back to Boca Juniors for the second half of their season. Talks over turning his loan into a permanent move at Celtic Park stalled, and the 28-year-old will resume his career in Buenos Aires instead. One option closes, another space opens in Celtic’s defensive planning.
Reo Hatate’s absence has sparked a different kind of discussion. Former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has claimed the Japan midfielder has fallen out with interim manager Martin O’Neill, a suggestion that, if accurate, would go some way to explaining his omission. For now, it remains an allegation from the outside, but it adds another layer of tension to an already delicate period.
Celtic’s forward planning may also stretch to Alfie Devine. Preston North End have until 1 June to trigger a £4.5m clause to make his loan from Tottenham Hotspur permanent. If they hesitate, Celtic are poised to revive their interest in the 21-year-old forward. One club’s delay could become another club’s opening.
The Scottish game’s web of connections runs deeper still.
Juninho Bacuna has looked back on his brief Rangers spell and pointed to Steven Gerrard’s departure as the key reason he never settled at Ibrox. Now at Volendam, the 28-year-old is focusing on international duty, hoping to help former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat guide Curacao to victory in a World Cup warm-up against Scotland later this month. Old faces, new roles, same stage.
Kusini Yengi, meanwhile, is fighting for his Aberdeen future. The striker believes he can play his way into new manager Stephen Robinson’s plans if he returns to Pittodrie this summer. Yet Cerezo Osaka, where his loan was cut short by injury, are unwilling to pay a fee, leaving the Dons with a decision to make over his contract. A career on a knife-edge, shaped by one club’s willingness to compromise.
Hull City forward Oli McBurnie has drawn a line under his own international disappointment. Left out of Scotland’s World Cup squad, he insists there are “no hard feelings” towards Steve Clarke. For a player who has ridden the highs and lows of both club and country, it is a pragmatic stance in a brutal business.
In the dugout, the managerial carousel is already spinning.
Former Rangers head coach Russell Martin has been in Italy and Spain speaking to clubs about potential roles, while Leicester City, freshly relegated to League One, also want him in their sights. His stock, built on a possession-heavy style and a clear identity, remains strong despite the turbulence around him.
Then there is Robbie Keane. Linked with the Celtic job and freshly out of work after resigning as Ferencvaros head coach following a second-place finish behind Gyori ETO, he has declared “the time is right for me to move on.” The timing is striking. A high-profile name, a vacancy at a giant of Scottish football, and a manager convinced his next step should be bigger.
As Rangers move to install a boyhood fan as their new spearhead and potential captain, and Celtic weigh up their next leader in the dugout, the shape of the next Scottish season is already shifting. The question now is simple: who will seize this moment of transition fastest, and who will be left chasing shadows when the first whistle blows?
