The Shankland to Celtic debate rears its ugly head one last time, and it’s dafter than it ever was.

Last night, I was surprised to come across articles about one of the dumbest debates in Scottish football—one I thought was settled for good.

It’s the debate about whether Celtic should make a move for Lawrence Shankland in January, and whether he’d even consider signing for us.

To me, it’s a no-brainer. There are better players in our academy team than Shankland. Daniel Cummings, for example, is a far better prospect.

The debate about whether Shankland would even consider Celtic isn’t worth having. The idea that we might make a move for him in January is preposterous. Why would we?

Some people will say Shankland’s problem this season is that he’s no longer interested in being at Hearts and is pining for a move to Ibrox. But the pro-Shankland hacks who seem to love this guy wish that was the case. The real problem is much simpler: Shankland just isn’t very good.

He’s hit his ceiling, and he’s not the answer to any question being asked at Celtic Park in terms of how we improve the team.

Shankland has had a dreadful season. Even if this is more about his frustration at not already getting a move to Ibrox than it is about his actual ability, does it speak well of his professionalism? Abandoning the club he’s at now, when they’re in dire straits and need him most, is hardly a sign of good character. Hearts are last in the league, in danger of being relegated, and at this moment, you wouldn’t bet against that outcome. This is a singularly bad time for their so-called “best player” to down tools and stop trying.

Either way, it proves that Shankland isn’t a player you can trust when the pressure is on, when the need is greatest. And at the end of the day, only those types of players succeed at a club like ours. That alone is reason enough to dismiss him as a transfer target.

Would he end up at Ibrox? I couldn’t care less.

Anyone over there who thinks Shankland is the answer to their problems hasn’t been paying attention to his season or the fact that he simply cannot play at a higher level. All his goals have come at clubs where there’s no real expectation or pressure. This season, with Hearts in trouble and him expected to carry them, he’s been nowhere—not even subpar.

As for whether he’d sign for Celtic, I think the answer is so obvious it barely needs stating: of course he would. It’d be the biggest move of his life—far beyond anything he’s ever dreamed of in his career. Anyone who’d turn that down would be a fool.

The debate about whether he’d fit into Celtic’s system is another moot point. Our system doesn’t just depend on pace and power—qualities he doesn’t even seem to have—but also on a certain level of quality, which he’s nowhere near. The short answer is no. I don’t think he’d fit into Celtic’s system, and he’s certainly not the kind of player you’d adjust the system for.

Shankland will almost certainly leave Hearts in January.

There’s no point in them keeping him any longer. He’s not going to dig them out of their hole. If they can get a nominal fee for him, they might reinvest it in a striker who will actually score goals and help them in their fight to avoid the drop—a fight I hope they lose. I want Hearts relegated. I want them to see how hard it is to sell tickets for their stadium in the Championship. And whenever they return to the Premiership, I want them humbled, chastened, and more rational.

Shankland will go, and I think Ibrox is his most likely destination.

As I said in a piece last week, the media can call them “the leaders in the chase” all they want, but they’re the only team in the race.

You’d think a player as good as the media claims Shankland is would have suitors in England, but they’re nowhere to be found. We know this because, even after scoring goals last season, nobody wanted him in the summer. So, who exactly is going to want him now?

Certainly not us, especially when we’ve got Cummings waiting in the wings. This is a debate I look forward to leaving in the rear-view mirror and forgetting all about.