LAWRENCE SHANKLAND has rubbished transfer rumours linking him with a move to either side of the Old Firm.
The 24-year-old has been one of the top performing strikers in Scotland in recent years and he was awarded with a national team call-up for last year’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Russia and San Marino.
His form at club level for Dundee United has led to increased transfer speculation regarding his future and some reports suggested he could be on his way to either Celtic or Rangers.
But Shankland poured water on those rumours when speaking on the Football Daft Podcast.
He said: “It’s always the same – it’ll probably start again soon.
“If you’ve done well, people just automatically [think] any time there’s a scout at the game
‘they’re there to watch you’ – and they’re probably not, they’re there to watch somebody else.
“With Stoke, Rangers and Celtic that was the three strongest rumours and I hadn’t heard from any of them at all.”
After breaking into Steve Clarke's Scotland team at the tail end of last year, Shankland is now keen to become a regular for his country.
And like all Scotland football fans a place a major tournament is at the forefront of his mind.
He continued: “If I go up to the Premier League and I do well, there’s nothing to say I can’t get myself in there.
“If you’re in the squad, you’ve always got a chance of forcing yourself into that team.
“I probably played more that [Euro qualifiers] trip than I thought I would have, to be honest.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I was just going to join up and see how I did in the training.
“I was just looking forward to that alone, but then getting the chance to come on as a sub [against Russia] and then starting the other game [against San Marino] is something I probably could never have imagined.
“I’ve shown that I can go there, and they wouldn’t put you in if they didn’t think you impressed in training, so I’ve done that before.
“If I go and impress in the Premier League there’s no reason why I can’t do well and get back in the squads.”
On his Scotland debut, Shankland added: “Playing for Scotland was a dream come true.
“When you’re younger you want to play for your country, and to do that was amazing...
“I got a phone call about five minutes before the squad got announced on Twitter...
“I thought I was getting bammed up. I was just sitting waiting on the squad coming out."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel