Breaking News:Lawrence Shankland is a Rangers transfer ‘gamble’ worth taking but 3 compromise
It was repeated so often and by so many that, long before the January transfer window closed down, it had become a bit of a cliche.
If Rangers sign Lawrence Shankland then he’ll not only fire them to the league title but he’ll pay for himself 10 times over with a Champions League lottery win. Ultimately, as loud as the clamour became, that advice fell on deaf ears as far as Philippe Clement was concerned. The Belgian chose instead to persevere with Cyriel Dessers as his first pick No.9. It was a decision the Ibrox club lived to regret.
And now Clement appears to be having second thoughts this summer – as revealed by Record Sport – the noise levels around the will-he-won’t-he Shankland debate are likely to crank up all over again. None of which comes as the slightest surprise to Billy Dodds, who was once at the heart of a similar rags to riches story when Dick Advocaat signed him from Dundee United at the age of 30. In fact, the only thing Dodds can’t quite get his head around is why Shankland, 28, wasn’t snapped up from Hearts six months ago.
The former Rangers striker said: “I honestly though someone would have taken a plunge on him in January. The problem Rangers had last season was the percentage of chances taken. Had they signed him it might have given them the edge in the run in. So I would certainly endorse it. Is it a gamble? Every transfer is a gamble. But is it worth the gamble? Absolutely.”
And Dodds is speaking, of course, from a position of considerable personal experience. He went on: “I love his journey as it’s exactly like my own. I started at Chelsea, went up to Dundee, plied my trade, went to St Johnstone onto Aberdeen and Dundee United. And then I got my big break. Lawrence has done the same thing in his career. Yes, I understand people might have looked at it and asked, ‘OK, can he do it at European level?’ But you never know until you’re thrown into it because I went on to play in the Champions League and enjoyed it. I scored one of the best goals of my career in that competition (against Sturm Graz)! So you can’t rule that out with Lawrence either.
“But, most importantly for Rangers right now, they have to deliver the goods domestically and Lawrence has already proven he can score in this league.
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