Having started at the bottom of the Scottish footballing pyramid, the Lawrence Shankland to Rangers move shows that hard work pays off, even when you are reaching the latter stages of your career.
The Hearts captain, who was a key cog in the Jam Tarts’ push for the Scottish Premiership that narrowly avoided them, has been a prolific goalscorer in his career, as he climbed his way up the footballing pyramid.
Having settled at Hearts for the last four seasons, when a Scottish giant like Rangers comes calling, it is hard to turn down such an opportunity.
Approaching the latter stages of his career, with the striker set to turn 31 in August, the Lawrence Shankland to Rangers move is rewarding his continued hard work and gives him a massive opportunity to potentially win a top-flight title.
Lawrence Shankland To Rangers: Starting At The Bottom
The striker was born in Glasgow and could have easily been picked up by one of the Glasgow giants; however, he started his life at Queen’s Park, a team in the Scottish Third Division, now known as the Scottish League Two.
Having impressed in his second full season for the Spiders, where he scored 14 goals and got two assists in 43 appearances in all competitions, he secured a move to the big time as Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen picked up the young striker.
However, whilst his dream of competing at the top level was realised only a couple of years into his footballing career, Lawrence Shankland did not feature at all for Aberdeen in his first season at the club.
Instead, the Reds loaned him to Scottish League One side Dunfermline Athletic, where he performed brilliantly by scoring seven goals in only 13 appearances.
In the 2014/15 season, Lawrence Shankland was utilised by Aberdeen, but was only handed substitute appearances as he made 17 appearances and managed to play only 250 minutes.
Lawrence Shankland to Rangers: Loan After Loan
After managing only one assist in the 17 substitute appearances, the striker was on the move once more as he was loaned out to the Scottish second-tier.
St Mirren became Lawrence Shankland’s new temporary home, and he was able to fire a double-digit goal contributions return with 10 goals and four assists from 32 appearances.
The Buddies confirmed that the striker would return to the club after an impressive season-long loan in the previous campaign. However, the 2016/17 campaign would be different, and after failing to score in any of his 16 league appearances, Lawrence Shankland was on the move once more.
Greenock Morton came to the rescue for the second half of the season, as the striker managed to play 18 times and score four goals with his side narrowly missing out on promotion.
At the end of the loan, Lawrence Shankland was on the move again after he left Aberdeen in search of a new permanent home and to try to get his career back on track.
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Lawrence Shankland To Rangers: Getting Back On Track
His next four seasons saw him flying in terms of goals. To begin with, in September 2017, Lawrence Shankland sealed a permanent move to Ayr United.
The next two seasons for the Honest Men saw the striker play a total of 74 appearances and amass a total of 63 goals and 24 assists before announcing that he would leave the club after his second season.
Fellow Scottish Championship side Dundee United came calling, and once again, the Scotland striker made his mark, scoring 24 times in the league as he fired his side to promotion.
During that season, Lawrence Shankland picked up his first international call-up for Scotland during the 2019 October international break. The striker made two appearances and scored his first goal for his country in a 6-0 win over San Marino.
His goalscoring exploits saw him on the radar of many clubs around Europe. In the 2021 summer transfer window, Shankland sealed his move to Belgium with Beerschot.
Lawrence Shankland To Rangers: The Failed Europe Experiment And The Return Back To Scotland
The Scottish striker’s time in Belgium lasted a mere season, as he scored five goals and provided four assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.
Beerschot were relegated from the Belgian top-flight that season which saw the striker make his return back to Scotland as Hearts came calling.
The switch back to Scotland saw the striker get back in the goals and firing the Jam Tarts closer and closer to a potential league title.
His first season back in his homeland saw him score 28 goals and four assists, as the striker didn’t slow down in the following season and bagged 31 goals and eight assists, continuing his goalscoring prowess and scooping the Golden Boot and the Player of the Year award in the Scottish Premiership.
In the 2024/25 season, Lawrence Shankland’s goals slowed down and Hearts struggled, as they battled relegation and were able to avoid it with the Jam Tarts’ captain only netting nine goals and providing 11 assists that season in all competitions.
The campaign just gone saw the striker back in the goals once more, providing 20 goals and six assists in all competitions as Hearts pushed for the Scottish Premiership title, but missed out to Celtic on the final day of the season.
The Lawrence Shankland goals have certainly put him on the radar of many clubs throughout his career, but now with his move to Rangers imminent, the Gers can add to their attacking department which will hopefully fire them back towards the top of the league.
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Credit: IMAGO / Focus Images
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