Rangers could have £4m bid accepted to sign new striker

Glasgow Rangers are poised to make a significant addition to Scotland international Lawrence Shankland to manager Danny Rolle’s squad.

Hearts’ star player and captain is set to formally complete his move to Ibrox before jetting off to his home country for this summer’s World Cup, having signed a three-year contract with the club.

He will join the Light Blues on a free transfer in the 2025 summer transfer window thanks to the extension clause he signed with Jam Tarts.

Shankland scored 16 goals in 29 appearances in the Scottish Premiership for Jam Tarts this season, helping them to second place, ahead of all Rangers players in the division.

Portugal Under-21 international Youssef Cermiti was the league’s top scorer with 15 goals, including hat-tricks against Hearts and Falkirk.

Rangers find out asking price for new Premiership centre-forward

Shankland could be a fantastic signing for Rolle’s side as he is a proven Premiership goalscorer and a natural leader who is also Hearts captain.

But Rolle and his recruiting team could do even better by bringing in another Premiership star who is better than the Jam Tarts skipper.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Rangers are one of the teams preparing to potentially sign Tawanda Maswanhise from Motherwell in the summer transfer window.

The Scottish Sun is now reporting that Motherwell are prepared to demand a £4m fee for the former Leicester City academy candidate, meaning the Garr family could accept a £4m bid for his services.

However, he added that Belgian giants Anderlecht were also keen to sign the 23-year-old marksman after an initial offer of £3m was turned down in the January transfer window.

Although Rangers are close to signing Shankland, they must also make a bid to add Maswanhise to Roll’s side as they look to win the title next season.

Why Tawanda Maswanhise is better than Lawrence Shankland

The Zimbabwean international is better than the Hearts captain and could be a more impactful signing for the Ibrox Giants in both the short and long term.

He is seven years younger than Shankland at 23 and could potentially offer much more in the long run as he is still heading towards the top rather than towards the end of his career.

In the short term, Maswanhise could also have a bigger impact in front of goal after outperforming the Scottish striker despite playing for a Motherwell team that finished two places below Hearts in the table.

The £4 million star scored 22 goals in all competitions for Well, winning the Golden Boot in the Premiership and officially becoming Scotland’s top scorer at the moment.

So he could be an even better deal than Shankland. That’s because he has seven years left on his next Rangers contract and offers a similar, and perhaps even more, threat in front of goal.

Maswanhise is also a more mobile forward who can play wide and offers qualities that Shankland cannot, making him a better all-round player than the Scotland international.

For example, Motherwell’s star player has only lost the ball 9.2 times per game in the league this season, while Hearts’ ace has lost the ball 13.1 times per game, showing that he is not as keen on the ball.

The fact that Mazwanhise averaged almost double the number of successful dribbles per game (0.9) as Shankland (0.5) also speaks to his superior physicality and mobility, which could make him more effective in big matches with more space on the counter.

The Gers therefore need to press ahead with signing their £4m-rated star player within weeks of signing Shankland. Because Shankland would be an even better addition to the team.

Celtic have also been linked with the Zimbabwean international, and a move to beat them to signing him would be a boost for Rangers and a blow to their title rivals this summer.