All the talk in Celtic circles over the past few days has been about the quality of Celtic’s squad. The 0-0 draw with Hibs has raised questions about the quality coming off of Celtic’s bench.
What is apparent though is that when you scratch the surface of the Celtic first-team, there are no real ‘difference makers‘ within the squad.
There are very good players but not one that can unlock defences and snatch a win from the jaws of defeat or a draw.
So when Mark Guidi suggested that Celtic should be looking at signing an SPFL striker that scores goals with his ‘eyes shut’ that certainly opened my, well, eyes.
When asked if Celtic should be looking at Lawrence Shankland, Guidi said [The Go Radio Football Show], “I think they should be because one thing about Lawrence Shankland is he knows how to score in our Premiership. He’s been banging in goals all his life.
“I do know that when he was at Ayr United and he was banging them in in the Championship, Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister had a serious look at him.
“Because he was available for nothing and ended up going to Dundee United. He’s been at Belgium, he’s back at Hearts.
“He’s at that age I think he’s ready for a step up because what we know is he can score for fun. He can score in our domestic game with his eyes shut.”
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Could Lawrence Shankland make it at Celtic?
The Hearts striker has had a varied career so far. Picked up by Aberdeen in 2013, Shankland made 17 appearances for the Dons without hitting the back of the net.
Fruitless spells at St Mirren and Greenock followed but it wasn’t until Shankland moved to the east coast of Ayrshire that his career really took off.
Signing for Ayr United in 2017, Shankland scored 61 goals in 73 appearances and also created 24. Granted he was in Scotland’s second tier but that record earned him a move to Dundee United in 2019 where he netted 40 goals over three seasons. He also earned his first cap for Scotland during this period.
He was then sold to Germinal Beerschot where he managed just five goals in 28 appearances before returning to Scotland after the Belgians got relegated.
Now the captain of Hearts, Shankland’s goalscoring form has returned and he’s smashed in 35 goals in 63 appearances and Guidi reckons he could be a hit at Celtic. [Transfermarkt]
There is an argument that at Celtic Shankland will get on the end of more chances and could score more goals. But questions would remain on whether or not he can do it in Europe. Especially at Champions League level.
For me, this is one Celtic needs to avoid. Whilst Shankland’s record at Hearts is very good I don’t think he has the necessary quality to improve the Hoops to the levels the fans demand.
In other news, ‘That worries me’: Barry Ferguson says he’s concerned at what could happen at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers