Why Lawrence Shankland would be a good signing for Middlesbrough
According to Daily Record, Middlesbrough are among a host of English clubs keeping tabs on prolific Dundee United hitman Lawrence Shankland, who has been in blistering form in the Scottish second-tier this term.
Old Firm giants Celtic and Rangers, EFL Championship rivals QPR and Brentford, as well as Premier League outfit Everton, are all monitoring the 24-year-old, who has racked up 24 goals in 24 games across all competitions for the Terrors since joining from Ayr United last summer. (h/t Daily Record)
Dundee United are currently the runaway leaders in the Scottish Championship and Shankland has been instrumental in the club’s surge for automatic promotion with his devastating finishing up top.
A report from the Express claims that Shankland is valued at £2million by the Scottish Championship outfit, although the Tangerines are adamant that they won’t let him go during the mid-season trading period with promotion to the top-flight on the line.
A youth exponent of Queen’s Park, Shankland previously struggled to cut the teeth in the Scottish Premiership during his days at Aberdeen and spent time on loan at Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton and St. Mirren in the lower divisions.
The 24-year-old eventually resurrected his career at Ayr United in the second and third-tiers, scoring 62 times in 73 appearances across all competitions before earning a move to Dundee United in the summer of 2019.
Interest from Middlesbrough
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough looked set for a relegation dogfight in the EFL Championship following a lacklustre first half of the campaign but a dramatic upturn in form over the Christmas and New Year period has sparked hopes of an unlikely surge at the Riverside Stadium.
Boro have won four out of their last five league fixtures, and with the gap between the top-six narrowed to just eight points, a top-six surge doesn’t look beyond the realms of possibility if Jonathan Woodgate’s side continue their impressive resurgence in the coming months.
The Teessiders have already set the ball rolling in the winter market, completing loan deals for Man City duo Patrick Roberts and Lukas Nmecha to bolster their misfiring strike force.
Despite that, however, Boro still have the joint second-worst scoring record in the Championship with 28 goals in 27 games so far and bringing in further attacking reinforcements would make perfect sense, given that neither Britt Assombalonga nor Ashley Fletcher is anywhere in the frame for the Golden Boot in the division.
Verdict
To put things into perspective, Middlesbrough have done exceedingly well to turn the tables in recent weeks and a January move for Lawrence Shankland could go a long way towards turning their upturn in form into a realistic playoff surge during the all-important last quarter of the campaign.
Notwithstanding the fact that Shankland’s heroics in the Scottish Championship doesn’t guarantee the same in the intense atmosphere of the EFL Championship, those who have watched him play would know that the 24-year-old is an excellent finisher who is capable of delivering the goods in a more competitive league.
Shankland still has a lot of room for improvement at 24, meaning that a significant outlay in the transfer window could be well worth for Boro.
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Middlesbrough shouldn’t hesitate to test Dunne United’s resolve over Lawrence Shankland with a handsome bid if they are really serious about making a surge for the top-six.
