According to the Daily Record, Lawrence Shankland had picked Dundee United as his next club.
The report claims that the prolific hitman has knocked back a move to English Championship side Hull City to join up with the Scottish Championship side.
He looks set to be an Arab. (photo by David Young/Action Plus via Getty Images)
From the outside looking in, does this move not show a lack of ambition?
Shankland will do much of the same at Dundee United
What is he realistically going to do at Tannadice that he didn’t do at Ayr United last season? The ex-Aberdeen forward inspired the Honest Men to a play-off spot last season and scored an incredible 61 goals with 24 assists in 73 games in Ayrshire over his full Ayr stint.
Sure he’ll still probably fire them in on a regular basis, but Shankland isn’t really proving anything by staying at this level in Scotland. A step up was needed to make him fully blossom into the striker he’s shown he can be.
Shankland has already proven himself at Championship level. (photo by David Young/Action Plus via Getty Images)
He’s reportedly knocked back Hull according to the Record, but there was likely interest in him north and south of the border.
If he hasn’t been given gametime assurances elsewhere though, then his United move makes sense. There’s no point sitting on the bench somewhere if you know you could be playing elsewhere.
Even with that to consider, it still seems strange. Surely Hull for example would be offering Shankland more money in the EFL than United can in the second tier of Scottish football?
It just doesn’t add up. (photo by David Young/Action Plus via Getty Images)
For United though, if this comes off, this is a stunning deal. It gives them a massive boost over everyone in the race for Premiership promotion. It fills a void left by Pavol Safranko, who is now back at Aalborg following a Tangerine loan spell.
Shankland’s move is a strange one from the player’s perspective, but for United, this could be one of the best bits of business so far this transfer window.