"Warning sign" - West Brom urged to only sign Lawrence Shankland on one condition | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has given his verdict on the potential signing of Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland.

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…

A new era is underway at West Bromwich Albion following the appointment of Ryan Mason as the club's new head coach.

West Brom parted company with Tony Mowbray in April after just over three months in charge following their failure to reach the play-offs, and having identified him as their top target, they named Mason as their new boss last week, with the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach signing a three-year contract at The Hawthorns.

Mason will now be keen to stamp his mark on the squad ahead of the new season, and according to The Scottish Sun, Albion are considering a move for Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, who is out of contract at Tynecastle this summer.

Shankland has spent the last three years with the Jam Tarts, but after hitting 28 and 31 goals respectively in his first two seasons at the club, it was a much quieter campaign for the Scotland international last term compared to his previous high standards.

However, Shankland's decline in form does not appear to have deterred clubs from taking an interest in him, and in addition to the Baggies, Southampton are also believed to be keen on the 29-year-old, along with Saudi Arabian duo Al-Ettifaq and Al-Wehda.

West Brom sent clear Lawrence Shankland warning amid transfer talk

When asked for his thoughts on the potential signing of Shankland, FLW's West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess admitted that he is concerned by the striker's drop-off last season, and he insisted that the club should only bring him in as a back-up option, rather than as their first-choice number nine.

"If this was a year ago when he was on the back of hitting nearly 30 goals in the Scottish Premiership, it would have been a move that Albion fans would have been all over," Callum told FLW.

"On the back of that number dropping down to nine goals and 11 assists in a year where he was approaching the end of his contract, then it might be a bit of a warning sign, especially as he is approaching 30 as well.

"However, I think he would be worth a punt for a lot of Championship if he is able to get back to those goalscoring levels.

"Going into next season, our options will be Daryl Dike, Josh Maja and Karlan Grant.

"I think Shankland would probably be an interesting addition because he's more of a fox-in-the-box striker, although he did get 11 assists last season, which isn't the worst return for a striker.

"Anyone who is going to contribute decent numbers would definitely be welcome.

"We're yet to see the system that Ryan Mason is going to opt for, but if Maja is going to drop deep and play next to Shankland, it could be a decent partnership.

"Personally, I'm a bit 50/50 on Shankland.

"He's the type of striker Albion have been trying to avoid in recent years.

"We've been trying to look for players with more of a resale value, such as Isaac Price.

"But I think if you're going to sign him as a depth option instead of the likes of Devante Cole, then you'd probably take him."

West Brom should be cautious over potential Lawrence Shankland swoop

Aside from last term, Shankland has been a prolific scorer in Scotland for many years, regularly hitting over 20 goals per season for his respective clubs, so he does arguably deserve an opportunity to show what he can do south of the border.

However, recruiting players from the Scottish Premiership can often be a risky strategy, and, as Callum says, if West Brom were to sign Shankland this summer, they would be getting him off the back of an incredibly underwhelming season.

With lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia potentially on the table for Shankland, he is unlikely to want to come to The Hawthorns to be a back-up option, so Albion would likely have to guarantee him significant game time in order to land his signature.