Lawrence Shankland was not ready to bring Hearts career to an end

Leader Live

03-07-2025

The 29-year-old Scotland forward – who has scored 68 goals since arriving from Belgian side Beerschot in 2022 – looked to be on his way out of Tynecastle after several rounds of negotiations over the past 18 months failed to result in a contract extension.
After becoming a free agent this summer and exploring his options, however, Shankland has been persuaded by recently-installed manager Derek McInnes to accept an offer to become the club's highest-paid player.
The Jambos announced on Thursday afternoon that he has agreed a deal until 2028, bringing to an end a long-running contract saga.
'After speaking to the family and where they want to be, especially my four-year-old diva, who's in love with Jock the Jambo, it was back here."
Lawrence Shankland speaks to Hearts TV 💬
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'I had a couple of weeks at the end of the season on holiday and to get married, and then after that, I gave it a month to think about things and weigh up options,' Shankland said in an official club interview at their training base in Spain.
'I had a couple that popped up, but the family side of things just wasn't right for me. And in the meantime, I'd been speaking to the manager about coming back here. I'd always left the door open. I couldn't seem to close the door behind me, and I think that gave me an indication of where my head might be at.
'After speaking to the family and where they want to be, especially my four-year-old Eva, who's in love with Jock the Jambo (Hearts' mascot), it was back here. I'm happy with my decision and the family are happy as well.'
In his first campaign at the club Shankland became the first Hearts player in 31 years to score more than 20 goals in a season and then netted 31 goals in 2023-24 to earn himself every Scottish Premiership Player of the Year award available and secure a place in the Scotland squad for Euro 2024.
The former Ayr and Dundee United forward's most recent campaign was more of a struggle in front of goal, although he did notch five times in his final five appearances to leave supporters clinging to the hope that he might decide to remain at Tynecastle.
After being appointed in mid-May, McInnes made it a priority to retain Shankland and the forward was grateful to his new manager for allowing him time to make up his mind.
'As long as I was honest in my situation, I think both sides were happy to kind of see how things went,' said Shankland.
'I was always keen to keep that door open for myself, and it was important for me that the manager was happy to do that for me as well. When he came in the door, my contract was coming to an end and he understood where I was at as well, so that was important. And the honesty between us kind of worked out in the end.'
The retention of their most prolific forward of the 21st century represents a significant coup for Hearts at a time when they are embarking on an exciting new era in partnership with Jamestown Analytics and with Brighton owner Tony Bloom on board as a minority investor.
'Lawrence is a really popular boy, but he's still got so much to do here,' said McInnes. 'We want to be lifting silverware. We want to be going into group stages in Europe and we want to have a consistent thing going here. Having Lawrence in the building gives us a better chance of achieving all that.'