Exclusive:Fresh talks to come between Hearts and Lawrence Shankland as several contracts are discussed
Tynecastle club still want to keep their captain and plan to make a new approach
Hearts intend to hold fresh talks with captain Lawrence Shankland to determine whether he could still be persuaded to stay at Tynecastle Park. Club officials have not yet given up hope of agreeing a contract extension with the Scotland internationalist, who is due to become a free agent this summer when his current deal expires.
Management plan to speak with Shankland and several other players whose contracts are running down, including goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Those discussions will take place in the coming weeks once the club’s league position becomes clearer as they push to secure a top-six Premiership place with 12 games of the campaign remaining.
Shankland, 29, rejected two contract offers from Hearts early in 2024 and later admitted publicly that his deal would be ending. He seemed destined for a move but no-one submitted an offer matching the Edinburgh club’s valuation. Rangers have monitored him previously without making a transfer bid. He is now weighing up his future and Hearts don’t want to let him leave without one last attempt to keep him.
Head coach Neil Critchley explained the situation to the Edinburgh News. “We are concentrating on the games at the moment. I’m sure, with Shanks and some of the other players who are out of contract in the summer, those talks will come,” he said. “We need to make sure we take care of business in the league first before we start planning further ahead with those players. Those conversations will come, but at the moment our full concentration is on the team and the players understand that.
“Shanks has been an integral member of the team over the last few years and he has scored a lot of goals. We know his importance to the team. He also has his own thoughts, opinions, and his career to think about. At some point in the next few weeks and months, I’m sure that situation will become clearer. We just have to take care of our own business in the league first and then we can think about where we are going to go with Shanks and some other players. Those conversations will happen. They haven’t happened yet but they will at some point.”
Shankland signed a three-year Hearts contract in summer 2022 after moving from the Belgian club Beerschot in a six-figure transfer deal. He scored 28 goals in 47 appearances in his first season in Gorgie, and bettered that in his second campaign with 31 goals in 47 outings at club level. He won PFA Scotland Player of the Year in 2024, established himself at international level and was named in the Scotland squad for the European Championship in Germany last summer - playing as a substitute in all three group matches.
This season has been notably less rewarding for the forward, with just four goals in 30 games to date. However, Shankland remains a central figure at Tynecastle as club captain and an automatic first-team starter when fit. His long-term future remains uncertain. Gordon is also out of contract at the end of the season, as are midfielder Jorge Grant and winger Barrie McKay. Defender Gerald Taylor and striker Elton Kabangu are on loan deals which expire in May, although Hearts have the option to sign both players permanently.
Shankland indicated late last year that he would be leaving Tynecastle when his contract expired after rejecting offers to extend his deal. “Right now, at this moment in time, my contract will be finishing. I won’t have one at Hearts, so that indicates that you move on,” he said in November. “That's the situation where we're at with the club. That's where we left it. There is no contract on the table. That was an agreement we were happy to leave at that point. Both of us accepted it and moved on. That's where it's been since then.
“Regarding the contract, there's not been any contact [since]. I think right now, as it stands, both the club and myself are comfortable where we're at. In terms of talks, we'll move forward and see how the next couple of months go. But more importantly than that, obviously everybody's been concentrating on trying to improve things on the pitch. Once that's done, I imagine we can worry about things off it.”