Lawrence Shankland trains with Rangers captain James Tavernier and Newcastle Utd star in unlikely pre-season team up
The pair joined Kieran Trippier for an elite coaching camp in the United Arab Emirates
Lawrence Shankland has been spotted training with James Tavernier – but it's no sign they'll be teammates any time soon as the pair joined Kieran Trippier for a warm weather coaching camp in the UAE.
The Hearts captain is out of contract and, as he mulls over talks with Derek McInnes to stay in Gorgie, he's been keeping himself sharp in his downtime.
The same goes for Rangers skipper Tavernier who is due back in on Monday for his first session under Russell Martin with the Ibrox side gearing up for their opening Champions League qualifier with Panathinaikos next month.
Neither have been putting their feet up as eagle-eyed fans spotted a post from elite performance coach Chris Bowman – who took the pair to the United Arab Emirates for an intense coaching session.
They were in elite company with Newcastle and England right-back Trippier also involved in the session which took place in the searing heat in the desert.
Bowman, who ran the session, shared a number of clips on his Instagram story which featured the trio and other players as they were put through their paces in their down time.
A snap shared with all the players together showed Shankland on the left and Tavernier on the right, captioned: "Tough one in the cooker today."
Hearts fans will of course be hoping Shankland hangs around at Tynecastle to help new boss McInnes in his ambition to gun down Rangers and split the Old Firm this season.
Whether Rangers fans would be open to Shankland and Tavernier joining forces on the pitch next season is another question.
Russell Martin is thought to be on the hunt for another striker but he'll first need to resolve the future of Cyriel Dessers who continues to court interest from AEK Athens.
But the new Ibrox board's firm stance on landing a fee in the region of £5million for last season's top scorer means that one may not reach a conclusion any time soon.
Despite what was largely a disappointing season for Shankland last term, he still managed nine goals and 11 assists in a campaign that improved towards the end.
He scored back to back doubles against Ross County and Motherwell after the split, rediscovering some of the form that saw him score 31 times in 2023/24.
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