The Lawrence Shankland Hearts transfer compromise amid never ending Rangers links

You could forgive Hearts fans for already being sick of hearing their main man linked with a move to Glasgow.

Lawrence Shankland has been banging the goals in for the Tynecastle club since arriving 18 months ago, but his last gasp leveller for Scotland in Tbilisi has ramped up the transfer chat. As is the case with the majority of high performing Scottish Premiership stars, the first assumption is that Celtic or Rangers might want to swoop and snap them up. In years gone by, it would be inevitable, even if only to make life easier when it was their turn to play against a troublesome opponent.

It's a little different now. The money on offer from even the second tier in England means the big two up here can't often compete if interest heats up. Now it's a case of getting in early or biding their time to nip in and secure a free transfer when contracts are running down. Scottish clubs though, including the Old Firm (ironically, some might say), are standing their ground and insisting on a better deal for their most sellable assets.

The likes of John McGinn, Kieran Tierney, Calvin Bassey, and Calvin Ramsay have fetched, in relative terms, big money for their respective employers, who refused to jump at the first sniff of a payday to make sure they got the best deal they could. But these were guys with time left on their deals, which meant clubs could afford to be picky.

Nowadays, anyone with less than two years left to run are placed firmly into the "sign them up" camp by punters, who can see what's potentially coming. In Shankland's case, there a few scenarios that could play out - some more likely than others, and definitely more palatable to those of a maroon persuasion. Record Sport looks at the outcomes Hearts and their