Rangers “have to” try to sign Lawrence Shankland from Hearts in the summer in what will be a “totally different situation” from the January window, says Jonny McFarlane.Speaking on the Rangers Review Morning Briefing on 5 March the journalist claimed it would be a “dereliction of duty” not to bid for the Hearts captain in the summer after the Scot helped beat Celtic while Cyriel Dessers’ lack of incisiveness contributed to the Gers’ 2-1 defeat to Motherwell.He believes it is genuinely a viable option to land the 28-year-old, who has scored 27 goals in all competitions so far this term, a year before his contract ends for a fee in the region of £2.5million.McFarlane said of Celtic’s loss (12m 45s): “A man Rangers should have signed in the January window [was] to thank for that… Unbelievable. I’ve been saying for two years Rangers should sign Lawrence Shankland… one of the few things I have got correct here, he’s been absolutely insanely good this season… “I just don’t think Dessers is good enough… there’s games like that with Motherwell [where] you need your number nine to step up, stand tall, and put in a couple of goals in a game that’s quite marginal…

“Rangers are going to have to go in and try to get Shankland in the summer. I think it would be dereliction of duty if they don’t… what would Hearts want in the summer with 12 months left? £2million?” After Derek Clark pointed out the money wasn’t available midseason McFarlane continued: “January’s different though. Hearts wanted a premium, it had to be huge to make it worth their while… They can change their team in the summer if the need to. They can plan for it.“So it’s a totally different situation and I think he’d be available for a lot less, maybe £2.5m. He’s absolutely worth it.” Join the Ibrox News WhatsApp channel to get all our exclusives and the breaking transfer news FIRST. It’s unfortunate for Dessers that multiple factors have conspired to paint his time at Ibrox, and his 16 Rangers goals so far, in a negative light so often. If his struggles to adapt this season hadn’t been compounded by those of Sam Lammers and, to a lesser extent, Danilo he wouldn’t have become one of the faces of the increasingly unpopular Michael Beale’s failed overhaul. Had the Brazilian, then Abdallah Sima, then Oscar Cortes, and so on, not then been injured the reliance on the Nigerian’s goals wouldn’t be in the spotlight, and were it not for how outstanding Shankland has been amid strong links to Ibrox he wouldn’t be compared so unfavourably all the time. Dessers is what he is, which looks like a solid back-up striker who doesn’t quite have the killer instinct to be the top option but can chip in with a decent amount of goals with the right service. On the contrary Shankland seems to prove more and more often that he can be the leading man, and while it was some disappointment for Rangers fans that nothing materialised in January the suggestion that it is realistic in the summer will raise hopes again. His age and the money will prompt some to dismiss the idea but the argument in favour is currently pretty strong.

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