Lawrence Shankland’s contract situation at Hearts has been an ongoing saga.
The prolific striker has been offered new terms more than once by the Jambos with the club even looking to make him the highest paid player in their history.
He remains in the final year of his current contract with the club unable to tie him down yet but Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay has once again made it clear they are still willing to sit down for discussions with the player and his representatives.
Shankland, 29, was crowned Scotland’s Player of the Year at the end of last season thanks to his staggering 33 goals in all competitions.
But there were inexplicably no offers for the player in the summer to take him away from Tynecastle, a position McKinlay hopes remains when the January transfer window opens up.
The CEO has now explained how a deal will be there should the Scotland international look to commit his future to the Gorgie side.
But he has been told that Hearts will simply not break their own wage structure and salary plans to keep their captain no matter how important he has proven himself to be.
McKinlay said: “If Lawrence or his advisors want to reopen talks, we’re happy to have a chat with them. My perception, based on all the discussions we’ve had, based on the lack of interest that there’s been, is that Lawrence will probably see out his contract.
Shankland was offered a new Hearts contract
“We’ve never been told that, no one has ever said that. That, to me, seems to be the obvious conclusion of where we’re heading towards. You would happily have the talks but, as of today, there is nothing as such.
“They (Shanks and his agent) know the numbers that were there before. We are absolutely happy to have discussions. Why wouldn’t we be?
“Lawrence has had two magnificent seasons. He’s had a difficult start to this season, but I’ve no doubt he’ll have a third good season.
“We would obviously want to keep Lawrence, but it would have to be at the right level for us. We can’t, as I said previously, go smashing our own wage structures.
McKinlay wants Hearts to keep hold of Shankland
“People don’t realise that if you do that with one player, you’ll have other players knocking on the door.
“Agents become very well aware of what you’re paying, or have paid someone. It would just make things very difficult for us. You do have to have a limit of what you’re able to go to. We’ll see how that one plays out. At the moment, I think it’s only fair on Lawrence to let him concentrate on his football now and get back to the level he’s been at.”
Shankland has been perpetually linked with a move to Rangers while clubs down south have also been credited with an interest in the attacker.