The Daily Record writes that Sky Bet Championship side Queens Park Rangers and Scottish League side Celtic F.C both had Dundee United hitman Lawrence Shankland watched on Saturday against Partick Thistle.
It was a game where both side scouts would have gone away with a strong impression of the prolific striker who bagged hat-trick for the Terrors in 4-1 win over Partick Thistle.
The Daily Record’s Scott McDermott writes that the Londoners and Celtic watched Shankland “as they mull over a summer move for the striker.”
Shankland’s hat-trick for Dundee United yesterday took his overall goal tally to 24 goals this season, with 22 those goals coming in the Scottish Championship at the rate of a goal every 76 minutes.
That kind of goal return from the 24-year-old is bound to impress any suitors and Celtic alongside their rival Queens Park Rangers are not alone as they mull over a move for the Scotland international.
Goals come at a premium and buying clubs will be fully aware of this. What might encourage his potential suitors would-be that Shankland has scored for almost every club he had ply his trade with.
Shankland started out his football journey at Queens Park registering 43 appearances with 14 goals and two assists, this followed up his move to Aberdeen before his loan deals to Dunfermeline Athletic. He featured in 14 games for this side and had seven goals to his name.
Same can also be said of his time at St Mirren where he registered 55 appearances and netted 14 goals and seven assists and so with Greenock Morton scoring four goals and one assist across 18 games.
However, Shankland was shown the exit way by the Dons at the start of July 2017, and was signed by two months later by Scottish Championship side Ayr United.
It was with Ayr United that Shankland’s most prolific scoring record skyrocketed. The Glasgow-born striker netted 61 goals and notched 24 assists in just 73 appearances.
He left Ayr United for his current side Dundee United for whom he has scored 24 goals in 24 appearances so far.
No striker is comparable to Shankland in the Scottish second division at the moment and a move to Celtic now or in the summer would do nothing but shrewd move for both parties involved.
That said, should Shankland ever think about leaving Dundee United, a move to Celtic would suit his career.
While the Scotsman might not see regular first-team football comes his way at Parkhead, a showcase of how talented he is would be revealed across Europe and who knows, he could be the next big name at Celtic.
*Shankland’s stats were according to Transfermarkt….
