Philippe Clement tipped to reconsider fatal error with Rangers move for Lawrence Shankland

Philippe Clement tipped to reconsider fatal error with Rangers move for Lawrence Shankland

Keith Jackson claims that Philippe Clement still has time to change his mind and try to sign Lawrence Shankland to the Rangers. As the new campaign draws closer and the club stumbles in preseason, a journalist for the Daily Record speculated on July 22 for the paper’s website that the Gers manager “shouldn’t have thrown the kitchen sink” at a deal for the Hearts captain in the January window. Clement’s decision is stated to be “fatally flawed” if he believed Cyriel Dessers had a better chance of winning the title, regardless of whether that was due to a lack of transfer funds or the Belgian’s disbelief in Shankland’s ability to press from the front.

Jackson went on, “Of course, it’s never too late for a change of heart, and Clement still has chance to change his mind before the season starts about Shankland. Naturally, though, he must sell before he can purchase. Rangers may sell Cyriel Dessers in order to acquire Hearts striker. The team’s dismal 2-0 friendly loss to Manchester United has raised questions about the group, which still seems to be in the early stages of a significant overhaul.

Shankland’s availability was immediately highlighted in the wake of the preseason game [Jonny McFarlane, 20 July] with the Light Blues struggling for goals.

Despite heavy speculation that Clement would look to sign the Scotland international the Belgian seems to be one of the few people left who isn’t considering it.

Shankland has scored 59 times for the Jam Tarts in two seasons and has rejected offers to extend his contract at Tynecastle so now has less than a year left on his deal.

Dessers, who scored 22 goals in his final season at Ibrox, has fulfilled his role and is up for sale this summer along with everyone else who isn’t Jack Butland. However, he has shown he is not the Gers’ top goalscorer. This summer, a number of teams are interested in signing the Nigerian international [Rangers Review, July 3]. Therefore, if Clement must sell in order to acquire, it would be wise to move quickly to complete a trade. Dessers’s contract is preventing him from moving to the Eredivisie, where he was able to draw attention while on loan last season [AD Voetbal podcast, July 15]. This is a “huge” problem, as there is more reason to keep Dessers in Glasgow than Sam Lammers.

Read more on sportchannel.co.uk