If Celtic and Glasgow Rangers fall short in this season’s Premiership title race, the Old Firm duo could look to their centre-forward ranks as a key source of blame.
At Parkhead, the Hoops are yet to find a true successor to Kyōgo Furuhashi. Johnny Kenny is joint-equal with the club’s highest goalscoring striker in the league (six goals) despite leaving on loan in January.
When it comes to Ibrox players, Bojan Miovski and Youssef Cermiti, despite scoring 18 goals in the Premiership, have been a story of inconsistency for both, with Cermiti in particular ranking second in the division for missed ‘big chances’.
League leaders Hearts have been replaced by Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland, who have played 14 and 13 games respectively, with the latter previously linked with a move to Glasgow.
Now that he’s 30 years old, that chance may be gone, but the Premiership’s newest sensation could still move in his place.
Celtic and Rangers in battle for Premiership star
Glasgow’s search for a striker is still ongoing, but Rangers have spent big on a trio of centre-forwards, with Ryan Naderi arriving on deadline day, adding to the previous signings of Chelmity and Miovski, not that they want to try.
As for Celtic, in the 2025/26 season, a number of forwards failed to perform at their best, with Makoto Yamada going on loan early, Callum Osmund suffering from injury, and Junior Adam yet to score a single goal in a league match.
Tomas Kvankala has only scored twice in the Premiership, while Kelechi Iheanacho has struggled with his fitness and has only scored six league goals himself all season.
Both the Gers and Parkhead side appear to be hoping for improvement, with Football Insider reporting that they are set to compete for Motherwell talisman Tawanda Maswanhise.
According to reports, the Old Firm pair are in the race to sign the 23-year-old, with a ‘tender expected’ this summer following his impressive goalscoring performance at Fir Park.
However, there is a good chance there will be some sort of ‘bidding war’ involving the Zimbabwean, with clubs from the EFL Championship also likely to be interested.
Why Maswanhise could become the new Shankland
For a long time, Shankland was one of the best strikers in the Premiership and was naturally linked with a move to Glasgow after a number of successful spells with Edinburgh.
Shankland’s career | ||
|---|---|---|
club | game | the goal |
heart | 167 | 85 |
air | 74 | 63 |
dundee united | 74 | 40 |
st mirren | 55 | 14 |
queen’s park | 43 | 14 |
veils hot | 28 | 5 |
morton | 18 | 4 |
aberdeen | 17 | 0 |
dunfermline | 14 | 7 |
The Scotland international was particularly at the top of the table in the top flight in the 2023/24 season with 27 goals, and in the 2022/23 season he achieved 24 goals, ranking him third in the previous year’s rankings.
While he is certainly still a force and helped spearhead Hearts’ impressive title run, he has lost his place as the division’s most feared marksman to Maswanhise.
Signed from Leicester City in 2024, the high-profile forward has enjoyed a real burst of power this time around, emerging as a star attraction for a much-lauded Motherwell side and achieving a promising first success in Scottish football.
Under the tutelage of manager Jens Askou, the free-scoring speedster has moved to the top of the scoring charts with 17 league goals so far, proving to be a true breakthrough in what has been a thrilling Premiership season.
His tally in all competitions stands at 22 goals, with 28 in his first 75 games for Scotland. It’s a strong return for a player who just returned to Leicester for his lone senior appearance.
Maswanhise, who has been tipped to be available for a transfer fee of around £5 million, appears ready to take the next step, especially with just over a year remaining on his existing contract.
Some may be concerned about his record against the elite in the division, having scored just one goal against Celtic or Rangers so far, but as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them.
In Shankland’s case, he has proven his worth over a long period of time, but he may well have missed out on a major move.
Maswanhise may want to avoid a repeat of the same scenario as the race begins to see whether Celtic or Rangers can take the lead this summer.
Whether Hearts win the title or not, their Old Firm rivals really need more firepower heading into 2026/27.
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