Richard Foster has backed Lawrence Shankland as an early contender for the Rangers captaincy after the 30-year-old striker was signed from Hearts, saying the move gives the club a proven goalscorer and a possible leader at the same time. Foster said Shankland is the best goalscorer in the league and believes Rangers will create more chances for him than Hearts did.
That is why Shankland is being searched now: Rangers have made him part of a wider push to strengthen their Scottish core at Ibrox, and Foster sees the striker as the starting point for that rebuild. In his view, Shankland is not just there to finish moves, but to set standards, something Foster reinforced by pointing to his spell as Hearts captain and saying he can score 20-plus goals if he keeps his current form.
The numbers are what make the argument land. Foster said Shankland should get more opportunities at Rangers than he had at Hearts, and if that supply is there, the return could be immediate. A striker who is already viewed as the best in the league and is expected to push beyond 20 goals changes the shape of a side. He also gives Rangers a figure around whom leadership talk can begin, which is where Foster’s comments about captaincy carry weight.
But the wider point is bigger than one player. Foster said Rangers need a core of Scottish players alongside players from different places who bring flair and quality, and that is where the logic becomes less tidy. Shankland may fit both tests — homegrown quality and leadership — yet he cannot be the whole answer on his own. Rangers are also targeting homegrown additions such as Luke Graham and Elliot Watt, and that suggests the rebuild is meant to be broader than one marquee signing. Rangers in the broader sense still need more than a single captain figure if they want the identity Foster described.
Foster’s praise leaves the key question in sharper focus: not whether Shankland can score or speak like a leader, but whether Rangers will back him with enough Scottish depth around him for those qualities to matter. If they do, the 30-year-old could end up being more than a signing from Hearts; he could become the face of a more settled Rangers side, and the captaincy conversation would look far less speculative.
