Celtic tipped to sign 28-year-old Scotland star who is ‘that big of a talisman’

Michael Stewart has backed Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic to sign Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland after dropped points against Motherwell on Saturday.

Lawrence Shankland worth £5million as Hearts striker's Rangers link would earn 'mega dough' - Football Scotland

When Kyogo Furuhashi isn’t firing for Celtic, then the quality behind the Japan star has raised a few questions

The name of the now-departed Giorgos Giakoumakis has been brought up, with suggestions that it was a mistake to sell the now-MLS star.

At half-time against Motherwell, Brendan Rodgers introduced Hyeongyu Oh into the action, but he wasn’t able to have the desired impact.

Michael Stewart suggested that Lawrence Shankland, who has six Premiership goals from 13 games for Hearts (transfermarkt), is a better player, as he told The Scottish Football Podcast.

It’s not just for Hearts where Lawrence Shankland is thriving, he recently scored for Scotland during their draw at Georgia, so this is a guy at the top of his game.

That’s why Michael Stewart was suggesting the 28-year-old for a possible transfer to Parkhead.

Lawrence Shankland to Celtic

Rangers could make stunning January move for Lawrence Shankland | Ibrox Noise

“My personal view on Lawrence Shankland and Jacob Brown is that I would be going for Lawrence Shankland every day of the week,” said Stewart about who should play for Scotland.

“If you took Lawrence Shankland out of the Hearts side. I would be concerned for Hearts. He is that big of a talisman. He is starting to hit some real form. His all round game has improved dramatically over the last couple of years.

“I think we have a real snobbery in this country of looking down on domestic players and thinking ‘they are playing here and they are playing there’.

“Michael Beale didn’t fancy him for Rangers. Someone was saying big Chris Sutton was talking about, in terms of connection with (Celtic), and someone said he had come out and spoken about going to Celtic.

“For me, you look at big Oh at Celtic (compared to) Lawrence Shankland. Personally, (I would go for) Lawrence Shankland. He scores goals.”

A difficult role for Oh

Lawrence Shankland completes transfer from Beerschot to Hearts after clubs agree six-figure fee | STV News

It’s not easy playing in a sporadic fashion, especially for a striker when you are judged on nothing but goals.

If Oh was playing and starting for Hearts on a regular basis, it could be argued that he would be performing better than Shankland.

Some might call for the powers that be to add to Celtic’s attacking line because that could be an option in January.

The recruitment over the years from Kyogo to Matt O’Riley has been very clever, but fans would like the boat to be pushed out that little bit more.

Michael Stewart suggests Celtic made a mistake selling 28-year-old after draw against Motherwell

Celtic Brendan Rodgers statements in full as new boss pledges to 'get to work' whilst club chiefs herald return - Glasgow Live

Michael Stewart has highlighted Celtic’s issues in attack when Kyogo Furuhashi isn’t firing for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Hyeongyu Oh is the back-up player to Celtic’s main man up top and Michael Stewart feels the difference between the South Korean star and the now departed Giorgos Giakoumakis is ‘staring you in the face’, as he told BBC Sport.

This comes after Brendan Rodgers watched his side drop valuable points at home to Motherwell on Saturday, including Luis Palma missing a first-half penalty – Callum McGregor was pretty clear in his analysis.

Hyeongyu Oh came on at the break but he was unable to disrupt a well-organised Motherwell and Stuart Kettlewell defence.

In truth, the team shot itself in the foot by not converting the first-half penalty and then letting Motherwell equalise only minutes after David Turnbull’s spot-kick.

It was a day to forget for the team and Stewart shared his thoughts on Celtic’s forward line.

Hyeongyu Oh and Giorgos Giakoumakis

“There’s no question Celtic should have won the game, but they didn’t,” said Stewart.

“They don’t have that same strength in depth as they did. They were without Hatate, Maeda and Johnston today.

“Oh Hyeon-gyu is the fallback guy when they’re looking at something different or Kyogo isn’t firing on all cylinders.

“He’s had a lot of chances and he doesn’t score enough goals. The difference between him and [Giorgos] Giakoumakis is staring you in the face.”

Giorgos Giakoumakis after Celtic’s exit

You can’t blame the 28-year-old for leaving because it was all for good intentions. He wanted first-team minutes and he wasn’t going to get ahead of Kyogo.

But that shouldn’t hide the quality and goals he brought to the table while playing that back up role.

Now in the MLS, he has been flying for Atlanta United, including winning the MLS Newcomer award ahead of Lionel Messi.

Playing minutes here and there is very difficult, so Oh can’t be criticised in that sense because even Kyogo would struggle if he played sporadically.