Lawrence Shankland has for the first time opened up on the controversial contract clause that allowed him to walk out on Hearts to join Rangers. The Scotland international striker, who signed a two-year deal at Ibrox after ripping up his Tynecastle contract, shocked the Jambos faithful by making the switch from Gorgie to Govan just a year after signing a new three-year agreement with Hearts.
Shankland's Move Stuns Hearts Fans
The news of Shankland's departure came just days after Hearts' hopes of a first league title in 66 years were dashed with a last-day defeat to Martin O'Neill's Celtic at Parkhead. The Tynecastle skipper had been expected to work with incoming manager Derek McInnes, but a break clause in his contract allowed him to leave on a free transfer after 12 months.
Shankland, who grew up supporting Rangers, admitted the chance to join his boyhood heroes was too good to turn down. Speaking from Rangers' training camp in Spain, he said: "I can't go into the clause too deeply because it was between myself and Hearts at the time, so I'm not going to expand on that too much — but there was a clause in my contract. It wasn't just Rangers as a club, but if a potential move for me came then it would be something that both myself and the club could work towards to make it happen."
Shankland's Ambition and Hunger
The 30-year-old striker, who has yet to win a senior trophy in his career, expressed his ambition to succeed at Rangers. "Every player has ambition, you always want to go bigger and better. I feel that's a normal mentality but this is a place that my aim was always to be and I'm just delighted to be here," he said.
Shankland also reflected on his recent involvement with Steve Clarke's Scotland squad at the World Cup, saying the disappointment of missing out on the title with Hearts now feels like a distant memory. "It feels like years ago if I'm honest. Obviously you need to pack it pretty quickly to go to a World Cup and coming here feels like fresh start as well. Obviously it was disappointing at the time but I'm definitely over it now."
Pre-Season with Rangers
Shankland described his first week as a Rangers player as positive, highlighting the importance of pre-season camps for team bonding. "My first week as a Rangers player has been great. Obviously the first day back in was at the training ground and then the next day travelling over here to Spain. It's good, I feel the pre-season camps are always important, it's good for the squad to get together and gel a bit, a lot of new faces and stuff."
With his hunger for silverware growing, Shankland is determined to help Rangers achieve success. "My hunger levels are massive. You know when you sign up for a football club you know what the expectations are. And of course myself as a player and manager, we've all got ambition to go and win stuff in our career as well. Unfortunately for me I've only managed to win lower league stuff to this point but I feel coming here gives me a really great opportunity to get my hands on some trophies and that's what we're set out to do."
