When the full extent of Youssef Chermiti’s injury became clear, it was inevitable that Rangers would pursue the signing of a new striker before the end of the transfer window.
With Chermiti unlikely to kick another ball this season due to a torn ACL in his knee, Derek McInnes made no secret of his desire to make a statement signing at the top end of the pitch.
Not only had it become the priority, it was also a matter of urgency given that there were only a few weeks left prior to the window closing.
In the end, the Rangers manager got what he wanted. A deal has now been agreed to sign Portland Timbers striker Kevin Kelsy and, paying a fee of £9million, it represents a serious investment. Particularly when Rangers are also in the process of tying up an £8.5million deal to sign Korean winger Kim Min-Su from Girona.
McInnes has been backed with lavish investment from the club’s American owners, with the arrival of Kelsy, a 22-year-old Venezuelan international, sure to excite supporters.
Yet, inevitably, you have to wonder where this leaves Lawrence Shankland in the grand scheme of things. The arrival of a big-money signing in his position does not enhance Shankland’s chances of nailing down the jersey.
Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland hasn’t enjoyed the best of starts to his time at Ibrox
If anything, it only strengthens the feeling that his status and importance in the Rangers squad is already diminished, despite being made club captain only a few weeks ago.
It has been a slow start to life at Ibrox for Shankland. He has scored only one goal in six appearances thus far, which came from the penalty spot against Jagiellonia Bialystok.
He has been a substitute in each of Rangers’ last two matches, only coming off the bench for the final couple of minutes in last week’s 1-0 win over Jablonec in the Conference League qualifier in Glasgow.
He fulfilled the same role over in Poland when Rangers lost 2-1 to Jagiellonia in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier.
McInnes was asked about Shankland’s early-season form prior to the Jablonec match last week and was unequivocal in his belief that the former Hearts striker will come good.
‘When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it,’ said McInnes, who worked with Shankland at Tynecastle last season.
‘He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown that over a period of time in the Premier League, with 20-odd goals a season at Hearts.
‘Sometimes people can overemphasise these things. For me, it is a case of letting him play his natural game.
Shankland suffers as Polish outfit Jagiellonia Bialystok celebrate their Europa League scalp
‘The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless. I have no doubt he will do well here.
‘I said that when I spoke to Lawrence — being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that.
‘He is not going to stamp his feet about it. Somebody has to be club captain and, having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy. He has a lot to offer.
‘People can maybe look too much into it. You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that.
‘For me, it is a non-question, although I understand why people might see more in it.’
Perhaps there is something old-fashioned in the belief that the captain of a club like Rangers should be one of the first names on the team-sheet every week.
Certainly, it is common for managers in the modern game to lean on a leadership group, rather than the burden being placed squarely at one player’s door.
But Shankland’s role in this Rangers squad is clearly open to question. He is struggling to score, has been a bit-part figure at times, and the club have now splashed £9million to sign a new player in his position.
Whether or not McInnes turns to Shankland in tonight’s return leg against Jablonec in the Czech Republic will be most telling.
This will be a night when Rangers need leadership and experience. Jablonec looked very limited last week at Ibrox.
It is reasonable to expect that they will show some level of improvement on home soil. A one-goal lead is fragile from Rangers’ point of view.
If Celtic can blow a four-goal lead away against LASK Linz, only a fool would believe Rangers progressing from this tie to be a foregone conclusion.
There is every chance it could be tight and nervy. Should the worst happen and Rangers were knocked out, they would have a season of no European football.
Shankland is all smiles training alongside former Hearts team-mate Cammy Devlin in training
That would be very sobering indeed. If the captain was to once again spend the bulk of the 90 minutes on the bench, it would only raise fresh doubts.
It would give fuel to the claims that it may well have been a mistake for McInnes to hand the armband to Shankland.
In fairness, leadership is not confined solely to what happens with one player during a match. Influence behind the scenes, and an ability to set standards, carries weight as well.
But this does not erase the immediate evidence that the player entrusted with the armband has yet to impose himself either as the primary goal threat or as the alpha male in the manner once associated with Rangers captains of old.
Captains at clubs of Rangers’ stature are expected to set the standard in the decisive moments. When they are rotated out of the team for every other match, the authority of the role begins to look diminished.
Shankland has shown no sign yet that he is in any way unhappy at the role he is being asked to fulfil. Perhaps this was the plan all along.
Perhaps he was signed primarily as a player to operate in the Scottish Premiership. Certainly, his efforts with Scotland in the World Cup demonstrated his limitations when playing at a higher level.
Yet, at 31 years old, he is not a project. He was signed as a ready-made goalscorer who could lead the line and the squad as a whole. Neither element has yet materialised with any conviction.
It is, of course, still early days. We are not yet out of August. Form can turn very quickly. Service from the wide areas and from midfield has been patchy thus far.
Did Derek McInnes bank on the leadership qualities of his former Hearts captain too soon?
Given the scale of the turnaround at Rangers, a degree of patience was always going to be needed. Patience, however, is not the same as pretending the start has been anything other than difficult.
The club’s pursuit of another centre-forward, with Kelsy now in the process of finalising his move from Portland Timbers in the MLS, is itself an admission that the present options are insufficient.
Leaving the captain on the bench in recent matches while searching for his potential replacement only underlined all of this.
The error, if it proves to be one, was not the signing of Shankland. A free transfer of a proven Scottish goalscorer with leadership experience made perfect sense.
The error was elevating him to the captaincy before he had demonstrated that he had the necessary quality to be a first-pick in McInnes’ new-look team.
