Rangers could sign their own Shankland for £5m

Glasgow Rangers need a miracle to win the Scottish Premiership title this season after losing 2-1 to Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.

The Light Blues are left with seven points in the league with three games remaining, which means that the hopes of winning this division are almost gone.

It was Lawrence Shankland who scored the man of the match when he swept the ball into the back of the net with a superb left-footed finish.

Claudio Braga won the Premier League’s player of the year award last week, but the Scotsman’s contributions to Hearts have not been underestimated.

Shankland has scored 14 goals at 10.22 xG and provided two assists in 26 Premiership appearances for the title-chasing Jam Tarts.

How Lawrence Shankland felt about moving to Rangers last summer

Last summer, the Scottish striker’s contract at Tynecastle was due to expire and there was speculation as to where he would end up.

Rangers and West Brom were among the clubs interested in his services before the striker decided to commit to signing a new contract with Hearts.

Now it has been revealed, by The 4th Official, that “Shankland really wanted to move to Rangers for a decent salary” and “Rangers didn’t want a deal” under Russell Martin and Kevin Thelwell.

Instead, the former Gers boss signed Youssef Chermiti for £8m and Bojan Miovski for £2.6m, neither of whom scored as many goals as Shankland (14) in the league.

Therefore, Rangers could have saved millions of pounds and had a better and more effective striker on their books if Thelwell and Martin had wanted to bring the Scotland star to Ibrox last summer.

Rangers could sign their own version of Lawrence Shankland this summer

After missing out on Shankland last year, the Light Blues could sign their version of the Hearts star by securing one of their reported transfer targets.

It has recently been reported that Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt, currently on loan at Hull City, is interested in a move to Rangers in the summer transfer window, and that a fee of up to £5m is being offered to secure his services.

After turning down the chance to sign a high-profile striker who wanted to move to Ibrox last year, the Gers must capitalize on Gelhardt’s desire to switch this summer.

The English striker, who can play as a central striker or as a second striker, like Shankland, finished the regular season with 14 goals from 11.16 xG in the Championship.

He is a clinical finisher, like the Hearts forward, and provides solid intelligence for his teammates, ranking in the top 18% of his peers for xA positions created.

Shankland and Gelhardt both rank in the top 10% of their peers for headers in their respective leagues, showing that both strikers have the ability to find space between defenders to get on the end of a cross into the box.

The Leeds whiz, once hailed as a “human football” by Jamie Redknapp, is a powerful and clinical striker who could be a battering ram, despite standing at 5 foot 9, for Danny Rohl next season.

Rangers have played with two forwards at times this season, with Chermiti partnered with Miovski or Ryan Naderi, and this arrangement would suit Gelhardt, as it suits Shankland alongside Braga for Hearts.

Playing a powerful and finishing runner like Gelhardt alongside Chermiti, who is physically present and able to push back defenders, would create an exciting partnership at that end of the pitch that could rival Shankland and Braga in the 2026/27 campaign.

However, Hull are in the Championship play-offs this week, facing Millwall in the semi-finals, while Rangers may be praying that the Tigers will dash their dream of reaching the Premier League.

The prospect of staying at Hull and playing in the Premier League could be too much for Gelhardt to turn down if they win the play-offs this month.