Shankland set to join Rangers from Hearts

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Shankland set to join Rangers from HeartsImage source, SNSImage caption, Lawrence Shankland (right) is expected to become Danny Rohl's first summer signing at RangersPublished50 minutes agoHearts captain Lawrence Shankland is close to joining Scottish Premiership rivals Rangers. The Scotland forward, 30, has been consistently linked with the Ibrox club and is set to become Danny Rohl's first signing of the close season. Shankland led Hearts to second place this season, with the Tynecastle side missing out on the title to Celtic on the final day.

Since joining Hearts in 2022, the forward has scored 88 goals in 171 appearances. He has the fourth most goals in the Premiership since the league was established in 2013, with a league haul of 77 putting him one behind former Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos. In total, Shankland has scored 236 goals in 494 club appearances and has netted four times in 18 international appearances.

The Details

Shankland moved to Hearts in 2022 after a year in Belgium with Beerschot. He previously played in his homeland with Aberdeen and Dundee United in the Premiership and Ayr United and Queen's Park in the lower leagues. He was also loaned out by Aberdeen to Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton and St Mirren.

His most recent Scotland goal came in the World Cup qualification-clinching win over Denmark in November and he was one of five strikers named in Steve Clarke's squad for this summer's finals. After the Scots face Curacao at Hampden on Saturday, they travel to the United States for a final warm-up game with Bolivia in New Jersey before Group C games with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil. The first two fixtures are in Massachusetts and the final group game takes place in Florida.

World Cup quiz: Name every player in Scotland's squad Published5 days agoRangers set for 'summer of change' as Cavenagh backs Rohl Published7 days agoAnalysis: Shankland the leader Rangers seekByTom English Scotland's chief sports writerRangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh spoke last Sunday about the club's need for leaders, ideally Scottish leaders and gnarled professionals. He never mentioned Lawrence Shankland but almost didn't need to. The striker is everything he was describing.

What Experts Say

Rangers are not particularly lacking for goals - they outscored Celtic and Hearts in the Premiership in the season just gone - but they need steel and presence and Shankland provides that. It was evident on Friday that things were moving quickly. It's still not definite - as of now he has not signed and there's still a medical to complete - but everything is heading rapidly in the right direction from a Rangers' perspective, if not from a Hearts point of view.

Shankland is returning from holiday and final agreement would appear to be imminent. Pending any departures he would join Youssef Chermiti, Ryan Naderi, Bojan Miovski and Danilo as Danny Rohl's options up front. It's unlikely that all of those will be Rangers players come the start of the season.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.