David Edgar says Rangers cannot afford a move for Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland during the January transfer window amid interest in the striker.
Philippe Clement’s striker situation is far from ideal currently. While Cyriel Dessers has hit a rich vein of form, it is risky to put all the eggs in his basket, with Danilo and Kemar Roofe out with injuries.
Shankland could be the answer to all of Rangers’ problems. However, Michael Beale’s spending spree during the summer may still be haunting Ibrox, with Edgar stating that the club do not have enough money to launch a transfer bid.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday (27 December), the Hearts & Hand podcast founder replied to a fan suggesting that Hearts would want £5million for the star striker, saying: “Well, we don’t have anywhere near £5million to spend in January.”
New manager, new style, same old players
As expected, Clement brought his own style of football into the club when he replaced Beale in October. And although he has done incredibly well to go unbeaten in all competitions, it is clear that the Belgian needs some new players to suit his style.
He has made the best out of a bad situation. Better than that, he has made a winning result out of a bad situation. But it seems Clement may need to continue with the current bunch of players as Beale spent the majority of the budget during the summer transfer window.
Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers, Dujon Sterling, Abdallah Sima, Dessers, Leon Balogun, Danilo and Jose Cifuentes were all incomings during the summer. And though four of those were free transfers, there are still some hefty wages for the Gers to play, which leaves no room for the acquiring of Shankland in January.
There is no doubt that the Hearts forward is an incredible talent, who has netted 11 league goals this season and has 43 goals in 73 appearances since July 2022. He proved so during Hearts’ 1-0 win over rivals Hibernian on Wednesday night as he scored the winner three minutes into injury time.
But with Rangers’ hands tied, they may be too late for the acquisition of Shankland come the summer, with many clubs interested in the 28-year-old’s signature.
