Lawrence Shankland to Rangers transfer snub talk revisited as £6m striker ‘breaks silence’ on Celtic interest

Celtic fans are still revelling in their side’s Old Firm derby win over Rangers on Sunday, while Michael Beale was left to pick the bones from a hugely disappointing week for the Ibrox club.

Having failed to qualify for the Champions League group stages, the Light Blues dropped into the Europa League and were unable to bounce back from their PSV Eindhoven thrashing against their fierce rivals back on home soil.

The summer transfer window may be closed, but there has been plenty of reaction since Deadline Day. Here are the latest Celtic and Rangers news headlines on Monday, September 4:

Danish striker ‘breaks silence’ on Celtic interest

Celtic transfer target Mathias Kvistgaarden admits he won’t sulk after a potential deadline day move to Parkhead collapsed.

The Brondby striker was reportedly the subject of a £4.1million bid from the Hoops last week before the window closed, but the Danish club weren’t prepared to accept any offer short of their £6m valuation of the player.

As a result, the 21-year-old - who is under contract for another four years - remained at his parent club and scored in their 3-1 weekend win over Randers FC, displaying no ill-feeling towards the deal not going through.

Asked about how close he came to joining the Scottish champions post-match, Kvistgaarden said: “There is no doubt that Celtic are, of course, a huge club. But I left the transfer side of it up to other people than myself. I was only concentrating on showing up for training every day, being on time and doing my things here at the club.

“So I let others do the negotiations and deal with everything else. I honestly don’t know what happened. I am still here and I am now only concentrating on helping Brondby do as well as they can.”

Shankland to Rangers transfer snub talk resurfaces

Kris Boyd and James McFadden believe Rangers’ lack of a pursuit to sign prolific Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is bemusing - after being tentatively linked with the Ibrox club earlier this year.

Instead, Rangers opted to spend vast sums of money on attacking options such as Cyriel Dessers and Danilo rather than looking at one of Scottish football’s top marksmen, who netted 28 goals in all competitions last season.

Boyd said: “I know it’s easy in hindsight maybe but you’ve got something that has happened in the par, it happened to myself. You’re scoring against everybody else, yes you are going to be judged on the big games, I totally get that.

“But for the money that has been spent, why don’t you go and get a Lawrence Shankland - somebody who knows the league, who scores goals. You can then say to yourself, well the pressure is on to find one out and out number nine who can lead the line in the big games. You know he is going to take care of the rest, why don’t you?

Former Scotland international McFadden was in agreement, stating: “By the way, there is more to Lawrence Shankland’s game than goals as well, his all-round play is excellent.

“I agree with you, you look at the money that has been spent on the players that Rangers have brought in... And i know sometimes you look at it and say ‘Can they do it in Europe, can they do it in the big games?’. Generally, barring the brilliant run, you’re getting the qualifiers, you’re getting the group stage, you may get another game after. So you’re getting maybe eight games maximum in Europe.

“You are judged on winning leagues, you are not judged on European trophies or massive European runs. Lawrence Shankland is a player that will score goals in a Rangers team - or a Celtic team for that matter. I don’t want to burst your bubble big man! But in a team like Celtic or Rangers, Shankland could score goals, no doubt.”