Rangers 'snobbery' stopped Lawrence Shankland move as ex-Ibrox star insists title rests on signing Hearts striker

Shankland can follow in footsteps of Kris Boyd, reckons former Rangers full-back

Rangers have been urged to make a January move for Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland. (Photo by Roddy Scott / SNS Group)

There is one piece of transfer business Alan Hutton sees as imperative for Rangers manager Philippe Clement to complete this month if he is to make good on the rich early promise of his Ibrox tenure.

The club’s former full-back believes the Belgian must be backed to “put his own stamp” on the playing squad to overhaul Celtic in the Premiership quest. But that a single signing could swing it. A capture that would have already have been made if Rangers had been as alive to the talent on their doorstep as they were when he was operating at the club in the 2000s.

“For me, getting a striker could make the difference between Rangers winning the title or not,” Hutton said. “I think back to the Celtic game recently and the small margins. Rangers had big opportunities to score first and had they done that it could have been different. Look, I do feel for [Cyriel] Dessers. There is a lot of pressure on him and it’s been difficult. It’s been the same for Sam Lammers. They are under a lot of pressure to be ‘that guy.’ I think if they could get someone in it could make all the difference. I know [Lawrence] Shankland is a name that keeps popping up. But it’s because he’s a goalscorer and because he can be a difference-maker. Celtic have that already, as we saw in the Old Firm game. I think Rangers need to bring someone in to make that difference. Fabio Silva has come in but I don’t see him as an out-and-out no.9. He is someone who likes to play up there alongside somebody else.

“But Shankland could be the guy to make the difference, if you ask me. Just look at what he’s done in previous seasons. He got 28 goals last season and he’s scoring now. He popped up with an important goal for Scotland. He’s a leader within that Hearts team as well. When Craig Gordon got injured he took the captaincy on and he’s really grown in stature since then. He leads the line well. He would give Rangers something a little bit different. He knows the league inside out and knows he can score against all these teams. It’s difficult for me to sit here and talk about him as I know he’s at a different club but, in my opinion, someone like that, if he’s playing with Rangers, the opportunities he’s going to get with [James] Tavernier putting the ball in the box, [Borna] Barisic from the other side, these kind of things, he could score a barrowload.”

Rangers spent £13m on attackers in the summer with the sums lavished on Danilo, Dessers and Lammers. Hutton is in no doubt that had they then followed the blueprint that existed in his days with the club of snapping up Scottish-based players, the Ibrox side would have invested a chunk of that in the Hearts predator. There appears no snobbery over Shankland now from any of a Rangers disposition, but Hutton feels that might have been at work as they hosed their transfer budget last year.

"It’s a proven recipe for success at Rangers. When I was coming through, anyone who gave us problems, Rangers went and got,” said the 39-year-old. “Look at Boydy [Kris Boyd], [Steven] Naismith, Alan Gow at the time, Kenny Miller, Steven Thompson. These were guys who knew the league and could score goals. Boydy is a massive example of that. He didn’t play all the time in European games or whatever but in the league he scored goals. It was that simple. To progress, you need that number nine. I feel sometimes there can be a little bit of snobbery around it in terms of going to get Danilo – who I think is a good player – Dessers and these kind of guys for a lot of money. Coming in, you don’t know what pressure you are under and you need to hit the ground running. It can be difficult, as has been shown. To have someone who knows the league and you know can score goals, why wouldn’t you go for that?”

• Alan Hutton was speaking at a Scottish Gas media event. Scottish Gas is the proud partner of the Scottish Cup.