It hasn’t quite been the start to life at Glasgow Rangers that Lawrence Shankland would have been hoping for, the newly-appointed captain having scored just once in five appearances for the Ibrox side to date.
Concerningly for the 30-year-old, the club’s first win under Derek McInnes actually came without the Scotland striker, with Shankland starting on the bench in Sunday’s thumping 5-1 victory over St Mirren.
Speaking post-match, McInnes even noted the irony in his side posing more of a threat with just one centre-forward on the pitch rather than two, with things not quite clicking into gear in that department previously.
Perhaps Ryan Naderi will now have the honour following his weekend opener, although the priority will still to be try and get the best out of Shankland after waiting so long to sign him.
How Rangers can finally get Shankland firing at Ibrox
Speculation was rife regarding a deal for Shankland a year ago, yet three striker signings later, the prolific marksman finally arrived in Glasgow following a stunning final year at Tynecastle.
The swift, surprise capture of the Hearts skipper looked to be a real statement of intent for the Gers, with the subsequent arrival of McInnes only further raising hopes of a potential title charge.
It hasn’t quite panned out that way as yet, however, with there a clear lack of cohesion in the forward line, an issue compounded by the loss of Youssef Chermiti to injury.
In Bojan Miovski, the Light Blues have a striker who is perhaps too similar in style to Shankland, while as for the aforementioned Naderi, the German’s lack of pace also causes an issue for the Gers skipper.
Shankland, as he had with Claudio Braga last season in Edinburgh, needs speed and athleticism around him, someone who can stretch the play and vacate space for him to thrive on.
|
Premiership 25/26 – Goals per 90 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
GP90 |
Goals |
|
Chermiti |
0.68 |
15 |
|
Stamatelopoulous |
0.62 |
6 |
|
Shankland |
0.58 |
16 |
|
Nygren |
0.57 |
16 |
|
Maswanhise |
0.53 |
17 |
|
Bokila |
0.50 |
5 |
|
Miovski |
0.48 |
7 |
|
B. Graham |
0.46 |
4 |
|
Bowie |
0.45 |
8 |
|
Dolcek |
0.45 |
5 |
As Premiership defences are well aware, give Shankland half a chance and he’ll more often than not take it, having scored 66 goals in 164 games in the competition to date, 16 of which came in 2025/26.
In the first two league games of this season, he’s only had 1.5 shots on target per game and hasn’t missed a ‘big chance’ as yet, with the lack of service and support a clear issue.
Braga, who scored 14 goals himself to win the PFA Player of the Year award, certainly provided that, ensuring Rangers need to find their own version of the Portuguese to partner Shankland.
How Rangers can sign Shankland’s new Braga before the deadline
The obvious solution, of course, would be to raid Hearts again in order to sign Braga himself, with the 26-year-old likely to cost in the region of £10m following that breakout debut season in Scotland.
Whether the Jambos are open to losing yet another key figure to Rangers remains to be seen, however, with it unlikely to be an easy deal to pull off.
The loss of Chermiti has ensured signing a new forward is essential either way, with TEAMtalk reporting that the club are accelerating talks to sign Portland Timbers star, Kevin Kelsy.
The suggestion is that formal talks have already been held with the player’s representatives and the MLS side, with there a belief that a deal can be struck ‘in the coming days’.
As for the 22-year-old’s perspective, Kelsy is said to be ‘very keen’ to make the move and has already provided ‘positive signs’ to those at Ibrox.
A fee of around £7.4m has previously been suggested, with Kelsy the kind of young, mobile number nine who could perfectly replace the stricken Chermiti.
Equally too, while in a different mould of forward to Braga, he might well be the ideal player for Shankland to strike up a new connection with, as well as someone who can ease the goalscoring burden on the experienced Scot.
The young Venezuelan has enjoyed a promising time of it in Portland so far, scoring 19 goals in 62 games to date, after previously netting six in 29 for FC Cincinnati.
It’s been an interesting route to the United States for the 6 foot 4 sensation, as he started out on the books at Mineros, before joining Shakhtar Donetsk, where he netted nine in just 37 outings for the Ukrainian side.
In just 13 starts in MLS in 2026, he’s already scored nine times and registered a further two assists, proving such a handful with his speed, size and finishing prowess.
The lethal left-footer is someone who can stretch a defence and cause a real nuisance of himself, intriguingly hailed as an “aggressive presser” too by Rangers analyst, Kai Watson.
Having that athletic, dynamic presence working in tandem with Shankland, like in Braga’s case, could well benefit both parties, with the one-time Dundee United man also no slouch creatively, averaging 1.2 key passes per game last season.
The Braga-Shankland combination proved the league’s most deadly duo across 2025/26 – having Kelsy working alongside Shankland could see Rangers form a lethal pairing of their own in Glasgow.
