Celtic-linked Lawrence Shankland not for sale in January

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Dundee United manager Robbie Neilson has ruled out Lawrence Shankland’s availability for interested parties this January.

Celtic have been one of many clubs linked with an interest in the Championship forward. Our own monitoring of the forward came to light back in September when the Daily Record stated that both ourselves and Rangers had scouts watching him in a match against Morton. Shankland scored a hat-trick that day.

Since then, he’s gone on to slam home another four Championship goals, taking his tally up to 19 for the season so far (Transfermarkt).

Yet, as we get closer to the January transfer window, the hands-off warning has been firmly issued by United manager Robbie Neilson. Speaking to the BBC, here’s what he had to say on his star-man’s future:

“I don’t think there will be any bids getting entertained in January, that is for sure. The owner [Mark Ogren] was over last month and spoke about the importance of keeping Lawrence and making sure that we get ourselves out of this league.

“Every player has his price but the value of going up would heavily outweigh that, not just financially but also the prestige and with the fans. I expect him to be here at the start of February.”

Shankland has a chance to impress over the next week

It’s not unsurprising to hear this from Neilson. United will feel that they need to get out of the Championship this year. Why risk what would be an invaluable promotion just for a couple of million?

A price for Shankland hasn’t yet been reported either. Considering Celtic already have three strikers on their books, you have to wonder whether we need the United man.

Sure, his goal return is massively impressive. Shankland bagged 61 goals with Ayr United before his 19 this season. These have all come within a two-and-a-half-year period (Transfermarkt).

He recently scored his first international goal for Scotland too, albeit against the world’s worst team in San Marino. But he’s been called up for the upcoming fixtures against Cyprus and Kazakhstan respectively (Scotland National Team Twitter).

If he were to nab a couple more in the dead-rubber double-header, that could turn even more heads. Celtic, however, don’t need to go overboard in January, and shouldn’t be held to ransom over him either.

Shankland continues to be a promising prospect, but he remains untested in Scotland’s top-level. Until he is, doubts over his quality won’t ever go away.