Ayr United goal-machine Lawrence Shankland has opened up on the speculation linking him with both Celtic and Rangers.
The Hoops are one of many sides monitoring the progress of the youngster after a sensational campaign so far with Ayr. Indeed, Shankland has bagged a fantastic 28 goals in 26 games, including a four-goal haul at Tannadice.
This has led to a host of different clubs being interested in him. The standout ones, however, remain Celtic and Rangers. Despite neither side making a formal offer, both are watching him closely.
Yet, speaking to Clyde 1’s SuperScoreboard last night, Shankland dismissed the notion that he will leave Ayr this season.
“Obviously it’s nice to have the speculation, people talking about you here and there, but it’s nothing that I get too caught up with
“I signed at the start of the season with the full intention of being there for the full year and seeing it out.
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“The gaffer has obviously made that vocal to the public that he wants to keep everybody and I’m fine with that.”
Hardly a blow for Celtic after recent signings
This means pretty much nothing new for Celtic. In fact, if Brendan Rodgers is pushing for a move for the former Aberdeen kid, this suits the Hoops more than anything.
There’s little to no chance Celtic move for Shankland this month. Timothy Weah and Vakoun Issouf Bayo have joined the club to help Odsonne Edouard. That means the club now have the three strikers necessary to push on.
Added to that, a meeting apparently took place at Parkhead yesterday to discuss two transfer targets. Neither of them were Shankland.
His agreement to stay at Ayr until the end of the season means that Celtic can get their use out of Weah before taking another look at this one. It seems certain he’ll be off at the end of the season.
This also isn’t a deal to be too snobby about. Many will turn their nose up at the idea of Shankland at Celtic. The truth is, however, he’s an absolute goal-machine, and deserves the attention.
Any move, however, will now surely be in the summer given both Shankland and the club’s position.