"No goals" - Preston North End approach to deadline day transfer backed | OneFootball

The Scottish international was the subject of talks between the Whites and Hearts.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Preston North End were pursuing Scottish international striker Lawrence Shankland late in the summer transfer window, according to reports.

Preston, along with Hull City and Rangers were reported by HITC to have been interested in Shankland, whose reported asking price was set at over £3 million by Hearts; a fee that Preston and Hull were unwilling to meet.

Despite missing out on Shankland, the Lilywhites had strengthened their striker department earlier in the window by signing Danish forward Jeppe Okkels for £1.7 million. He was brought in by Ryan Lowe, who has since left the club, and now Paul Heckingbottom is Preston's manager.

Since the former Sheffield United boss arrived, fellow forward Will Keane has been tied down to a new contract that extends his stay at Deepdale until the summer of 2026, and they made their attempt to sign the 29-year-old Scottish international.

HITC's story suggested that Rangers were in the deepest talks with Hearts over Shankland, with negotiations happening in the final days of the window, but they were ultimately put off by the asking price.

Lawrence Shankland wouldn't have made much difference at Preston

The Hearts centre-forward is seen as very similar to what North End already have up front by Darren Watson. The Football League World Preston fan pundit also doesn't see a way in which his side would have met the Scottish side's asking price for Shankland.

"I actually heard some rumours about this," said Watson. "We were trying to sign him but that £3 million+ price tag, we just don't have the money to be forking that much out on a 29-year-old striker. He might even be pushing 30.

"If we were going to pay that price for somebody, they'd have to be a young, upcoming talent that is a proven goalscorer.

"So far this season, he's played four matches with no goals. The strikers we've got already, they've provided goals in the league and the cup.

"I think putting pen to paper for Keane was a way of saying that we want to put our focus on the strikers that we've got. We believe in them and they can get the goals that we need to help us win games and get up to the top end of the table, which is where we want to be.

"I think that if we did pay that price, which I couldn't have seen with the budget that we have, it wouldn't make any difference. I've just watched him play a bit on YouTube and, I don't want this to sound like I'm being a bit funny, but he's more or less what we've got now in Keane and Osmajic.

"I think what we've got now is a good addition to our squad. We've got decent strikers but we just need to get everyone firing on all cylinders again after the departure of Lowe. I think everyone is still in that position where we want to turn the club around under Heckingbottom.

"I think we need to go forward with the players that we've got, just invest in what we've got and hopefully it will get us to where we want to be."

Preston's interest in Lawrence Shankland is more than understandable

Buying clubs are usually at the behest of those they wish to buy from, and this was the case with Shankland. Preston wanted to get him but, like Rangers and Hull, they didn't want to pay that much for the 29-year-old so they moved on from him.

Had they bent the knee to Hearts and given them what they wanted, it may have been seen as a bit of a brash move given the funds available to them, but you certainly can't question why they wanted him.

Top strikers are hard to come by, and Shankland has scored 48 league goals in the past two seasons, with half of them coming in the previous campaign.

That's an undoubtedly good record in front of goal. Had he been able to bring that form over to the Championship, if he'd moved to Deepdale, then it could have catapulted them up the table.