'Why would they sell him?' Hearts player confident Lawrence Shankland will remain at Tynecastle this month

Shankland's teammate believes the striker will still be at Tynecastle in May

The newly announced Motherwell loan player Andy Halliday believes Lawrence Shankland will still be in maroon by the end of the month. The 32-year-old, who has been iced out of the Hearts first team in recent months, addressed his old teammate's future while featuring on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard and confessed he was "90 percent" sure the striker would remain at Tynecastle past January.

Halliday has recently joined the Well on an initial loan deal which will then be made permanent this summer. He started his career at Livingston before spending time in the English Championship. The defender then headed back up north of the border to lift silverware with Rangers and made over 150 appearances for the Ibrox side before heading west in 2020.

Shankland, 28, has been constantly linked with moves away from Gorgie this month, with likely destinations being Rangers and more recently their fierce rivals Celtic as he has just 18 months left on his current contract. Both the Glaswegian sides have also publicised that they are on the lookout to improve their forward options.

While Hearts have insisted they have little intention of selling their star striker, offering him a new and improved deal, Shankland is yet to put any pen to paper putting clubs on high alert as to his availability. However, 32-year-old left-back Halliday is almost entirely sure the Jambos frontman will still be donning the Hearts jersey come February.

Speaking on Clyde 1, the ex-Ibrox star said: "What did Stuart say, 100 percent? I'll say I'm 90 percent sure he'll be a Hearts player by the end of the window."

He was then asked by Gordon Duncan is this was insider knowledge, to which he replied: "No, not at all. Why would Hearts sell him? Hears can guarantee somewhere between £6-8 million if they finish third. They're obviously in a pretty position.

"Roger (Hannah) just said there that no team is more reliant on somebody's goals. If that's the case, why would they sell him for less than the £3-4m that has been reported? If that is the fee, would Rangers pay it? I'm not too sure."

Shankland unfortunately missed Hearts' 2-1 win over Spartans in the Scottish Cup fourth round on Saturday due to illness. However, the 28-year-old has since been seen at the Riccarton training ground and could well return to the matchday squad as the Jambos take on Dundee later today (Tuesday 23 January).