BREAKING NEWS:Clement brings up “Messi and Mbappe” while talking about the £3 million Rangers transfer target.
Dan Owen
Rangers manager Philippe Clement will approach Hearts in a manner akin to how he did when facing Paris Saint-Germain’s elite front line, although he is cautious about the threat posed by the Ibrox-linked Lawrence Shankland.
Clement is attempting to find a balance between keeping the Hearts talisman at arm’s length and making sure that the home team also goes about their regular business ahead of Saturday’s matchup between the two sides at Ibrox. Rangers enter the 3pm encounter top of the table for the first time in 18 months.
According to reporter Peter O’Rourke, Lawrence Shankland was considered by Rangers for a January transfer window. This season, he has scored 25 goals across all competitions.
Of those, the Scottish Premiership accounted for eighteen. This puts him six goals ahead of Rangers’ own leading league scorer, James Tavernier, who specializes in penalties, in the Golden Boot competition.
On the other hand, Clement is no stranger to positioning his squad to succeed against a high-scoring offensive player. After all, while he was in the Monaco driver’s seat, he faced three of the greatest of the contemporary period.
Hearts of Lawrence Shankland take on the Rangers.
Shankland has scored more than 50% of their goals, thus stopping him is crucial, according to Clement. If you watch the entire season, that is a lot of points.
“(But it’s crucial to) not just concentrate on him and ignore everyone else. Because other males will then be the ones who really make a difference. We never play a game with only one player in mind.
“Last year, I participated in a game with my team against Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe. However, our attention was not on them. Our attention was on our path. How we should attack them as well as how we should play to stop them. That was a positive outcome.
“I always believe that we should put more emphasis on ourselves.”
Clement last season shocked PSG.
With a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes and a 3-1 victory in the Principality, Clement’s Monaco defeated PSG 4-1 in 2022–2023. Mbappe, Neymar, and Messi’s lack of defensive effort allowed Les Monegasques to establish a numerical advantage and overwhelm their deep-pocketed opponents in the last third.
That precise kind of tactical acumen explains why Rangers, who are now leading the league, have changed so drastically since Clement took over at Ibrox in lieu of Mick Beale.
With a 2025 contract expiration, Hearts apparently value Shankland at approximately £3 million. Cyriel Dessers, a center-forward for Rangers, is also on the rise.
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