Lawrence Shankland, a Scottish professional footballer born on 10 August 1995, takes the field as a striker for Hearts. Standing at 6ft (1.85m) tall and weighing in at 12st 1lb (77kg), Shankland strikes an imposing figure with the number 9 jersey. He has also been fortunate enough to represent the Scotland national team, an accomplishment each footballer from the country aspires to.
According to Transfermarkt, Shankland's current market value stands at approximately €2.50m (around £2m).
Shankland's career took off when he first joined Queen's Park in the Scottish Championship in July 2012. That season, Shankland played impressively, with 33 first-team appearances and scored ten goals in league matches. After an impressive spell at Queen's Park, he was transferred to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership for an undisclosed fee in July 2013. Whilst here, he didn’t make quite an impression, with 17 first-team appearances in the 2014-2015 season.
In a bid for more playing time, Shankland was loaned to Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship in January 2014. During his stint here, he made 13 first team appearances and proved his scoring prowess with seven league goals. He returned to Aberdeen in May 2014, where he replicated his previous record of 17 appearances over the 2014-2015 season.
In August 2015, Shankland moved to St Mirren in the Premiership on loan from Aberdeen. He had a substantial tenure with St Mirren, with 48 appearances over two seasons, and a solid return of ten goals. Another loan spell awaited Shankland in January 2017, where he joined Greenock Morton in the Championship. Despite 16 first-team appearances, Shankland could only manage four goals.
Looking for a fresh start, Shankland transferred to Ayr United from Aberdeen in September 2017. His time at Ayr commendable and he managed an impressive 18 first-team appearances and 16 goals in the 2017-2018 season. After a lucrative couple of seasons, Shankland transferred from Ayr United to Dundee United, where he made 65 appearances and added 16 more goals to his tally in a span of three seasons from 2019 to 2022.
Despite the early promise, Shankland could only add five more goals to his tally following a transfer to Beerschot in the Belgian Challenger Pro League for a fee of around £1.1m in August 2021. However, his time at Beerschot helped him acclimatise to a higher level of football, with 26 first team appearances and five goals."
In July 2022, Shankland made a return to Scotland, this time to Hearts in the Premiership, joining for an undisclosed fee. In his first season at Hearts, Shankland made 37 first team appearances and scored an impressive 24 goals. He maintained this record in the 2023-2024 season and has since added 11 goals over two follow-up seasons at Hearts, up to the current 2025-2026 season.
In addition to his club career, Shankland has represented Hearts in the League Cup 2025-2026, scoring three goals in four starts. He has also made appearances on the international stage, with appearances at Euro 2024 and in the Nations League 2024 - 2025 for Scotland, demonstrating not only his journey, but the future promise he holds.
