Nottingham Forest have been linked with a move for Dundee United hotshot Lawrence Shankland over the weekend. The Scottish Sun reports that representatives from the Reds oversaw his goalscoring performance in Friday’s win over Dundee.
The 24-year-old only signed for the Tangerines during the summer but he has already scored 19 goals this season.
Forest will perhaps enter the market for another striker when the window reopens. Lewis Grabban netted goal number seven for the season against Derby at the weekend but some competition might offer a welcome boost.
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Celtic and Rangers are also reportedly keen on Shankland (Daily Record) and his signature certainly won’t be easy to claim.
Following the link to the prolific goalscorer, we looked at three reasons why Forest should pursue the Scottish star…
Goals, goals, goals
One thing that Lawrence Shankland will bring to the table is a natural instinct to know where the back of the net is.
Okay, his goals have all come at a level considerably weaker than the Sky Bet Championship but this is a boy working his way up the footballing ladder.
During his time with Ayr United, he smashed 61 goals in 73 appearances, whilst this season his 19 goals have propelled Dundee United into contention for a return to the Scottish Premiership.
With his current club six points clear at the top of the league, he may want to see the promotion challenge through. If he keeps bagging for fun, however, the likes of Celtic, Rangers or Forest might be tempted with a bid in January.
Shankland would have to prove himself in England should he make the move over, but his goal record makes him well worthy of a punt.
Style of play
If Forest are going to chase a man to compete with Lewis Grabban for a place in the team then they need someone who boasts a similar style of play.
The issue with Rafa Mir is that he is the polar opposite to Grabban, which means when Forest do call upon him, the team doesn’t really play to his strengths.
You can’t really knock Sabri Lamouchi for that. He clearly believes in this style of play and it’s working. Forest need to sign players to suit such a style and in the summer they did just that.
Shankland is lively, hardworking and will happily play as a lone striker and that would make him an ideal player to have on the bench, should anything happen to Forest’s main talisman.
Value for money
Forest proved in the summer that there is plenty of value to be had in the European transfer market. The Scottish Sun claims that it could take just £2 million to prise Shankland away from Dundee United, which would highlight value for money from the British market too.
The Reds are extremely fortunate to have a striker of Grabban’s ilk within their ranks. Any additional talisman who arrives at the City Ground will play second fiddle so spending big money doesn’t really seem to make much sense.
If £2 million is the figure that the Tangerines want to recoup then Forest should start making some serious calls to the club and get the ball rolling.
Being Glasgow-born Celtic and Rangers will probably attractive propositions to Shankland and Forest might need to act quickly if they serious about tempting him over to English football.
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