West Brom At Risk Of Seeing Deal Hijacked As Clubs Join Race | OneFootball

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West Brom now face having their move to sign a striker hijacked as two Saudi Arabian sides have joined the race, according to journalist Mark Hendry.

The Baggies recently appointed Ryan Mason as their new manager, giving the 33-year-old his first permanent managerial job.

Mason signed a three-year deal at the Hawthorns and West Brom are looking to back him by strengthening the squad this summer.

West Brom have been holding talks with Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland, who is out of contract at Scottish Premiership side Hearts.

They are hopeful of finding an agreement with the striker and taking him south of the border to the Championship.

Those thoughts are now at risk though as Saudi Arabian pair Al-Wehda and Al-Ettifaq have joined the hunt.

They will try to hijack West Brom’s swoop for Shankland and any proposal from Saudi Arabia is likely to be a financially attractive affair for the striker.

At 29 years old, Shankland may be looking at his last big contract in the game and moving to Saudi Arabia could be incredibly tempting for him at this stage in his career.

Al-Ettifaq parted ways with former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard earlier this season and reaped the rewards as they improved and finished in seventh spot.

Al-Wheda were relegated from the Saudi Pro League and will want to bounce back quickly, which they feel Shankland can help with.

The striker is continuing to speak to Hearts about a new deal, but looks likely to be leaving Tyneside.

Shankland, who is due to turn 30 years old in August, scored nine goals in 43 appearances across all competitions for Hearts in the recent season.

He also regularly went into the referee’s notebook, getting booked no fewer than nine times and his next club will likely want to see his discipline improve.

Playing abroad is not something new to Shankland as he had a spell in Belgium earlier in his career.

Now the striker must weigh up whether he wants to continue his career in the Championship at West Brom, or instead head for an adventure in Saudi Arabia, with a Scotland stay looking unlikely.