Swansea City would bag a coup by signing Lawrence Shankland
According to Daily Mail, Championship side Swansea City are interested in signing Lawrence Shankland. The Queen’s Park academy graduate has been impressive for Ayr United since signing on a free in the summer of 2017.
The 23-year-old had been released by Aberdeen after running down his contract. Last season, Shankland hit 26 goals and provided 13 assists in 30 games to help Ayr win the League One title and subsequent secure promotion to the Scottish Championship.
The former Scotland U21 international has picked up from where he left last season. Lawrence Shankland has already scored 16 goals and provided three assists in 15 Championship games so far. His hot streak of form has helped push Ayr United to the top of the Championship table.
The Somerset Park club has 33 points from 15 games. As a result, Shankland’s form has seen a host of clubs monitoring the in-form striker. Swansea are keen on quickly wrapping up a deal for the player, who will be out of contract at the end of the season (h/t Daily Mail).
With Ayr United leading the table and firmly in contention for promotion to the top-flight, Ayr boss Ian McCall might not like the idea of losing Shankland mid-season. Ideally, they should try to hang onto Shankland in the winter and let him leave for free in the summer.
A deal with an immediate loan-back clause would be the ideal scenario for all the parties involved. According to Daily Record, however, as many as 20 clubs are in the race to secure Shankland’s signature when the January transfer window opens. Swansea City and Sunderland are leading the chase.
The Glasgow-born attacker will cost somewhere in the region of £400,000. For a striker finding the back of the net so regularly, that would be a tiny bargain fee to pay.
Now, Swansea must aim to make a swift return to the Premier League following their relegation at the end of last season. Currently placed 12th on the table, Swansea are not completely out of the promotion picture just yet. Signing a centre-forward of Shankland’s ability would massively boost their faltering promotion chances.
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At 23, Shankland is the ideal long investment and would help relieve Oliver McBurnie’s goalscoring burden. Hence, if Swansea are to have any chances of making a swift return to the top-flight, they need to seal a deal for Lawrence Shankland this January.
