Any form of Lawrence Shankland interest from Celtic doesn’t make too much sense from a first-team perspective.
The former Aberdeen and Ayr United star has scored a sensational 10 goals in 10 appearances for Dundee United this season. He’s the top scorer in the Scottish Championship, and looks like being the man to finally fire the Tannadice club back to the Premiership.
The Daily Record reported yesterday that Celtic and Rangers both had him watched too. The 4-0 hammering of Morton at the weekend saw Shankland bag a hat-trick for Robbie Neilson’s men. He only signed for United in the summer, but already the vultures appear to be circling.
Nobody can deny Shankland’s Championship record. After all, he scored 34 goals in all competitions for Ayr United last season too. But what could he truly add to the Celtic squad that we don’t already have?
He isn’t going to displace Odsonne Edouard anytime soon. The Frenchman is a class above anything in Scotland, and Shankland’s all-round game isn’t at the level French Eddy’s is.
Griff could have a problem on his hands if Shankland signs
The player who may be worried if Celtic secure Shankland in the near future is Leigh Griffiths. The Scotland international hasn’t played much football after a promising start to the season. Impressive free-kicks against Nomme Kalju and Motherwell respectively had him roaring back into contention.
However, Vakoun Issouf Bayo has recently been getting subbed on over Griff. As well as that, he’s been injured for the last several weeks as he struggles to make an impression during the first quarter of the season.
Griffiths also missed a total of nine matches during the first half of last season with calf and knee injuries. His injury problems could come back to bite him if we secure Shankland. However, when you compare the two, you would still have Griffiths in your side any day of the week.
Bayo is obviously our third-choice striker, and he’s also shown some real quality in his last three Celtic appearances. He played a huge part in two goals against Hearts before officially bagging his first Hoops goal against Partick Thistle. Against Hibs on Saturday, he came close with a tremendously taken bycicle kick that was blocked en route to goal.
Celtic won’t give up on Bayo anytime soon.
So Shankland’s potential addition doesn’t make sense for the one-striker system Neil Lennon plays. Granted, with Griffiths injured it throws up a big concern for him personally if he signs this January.
But Celtic couldn’t guarantee Shankland the game-time he clearly needs to keep developing. A worthwhile signing? Maybe, but we don’t really need him.
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