Archive May 15, 2025

Heart of Midlothian striker Lawrence Shankland says he is making “no promises” about his future as he ponders staying at the Scottish Premiership club.

The 29-year-old Scotland international is out of contract this summer and has recently been offered a new deal by the Tynecastle club.

However, the forward, who only has nine goals this term, revealed it is a decision he is still pondering.

“I don’t even know,” he told BBC Scotland. “I’ve got decisions to make and things to talk about in the summer.

There has been constant speculation regarding the striker after his scoring exploits last season, when he found the back of the net on 31 occasions for Hearts, with another two for Scotland added to the tally.

Speaking after Hearts’ 2-1 home win over St Johnstone on Wednesday, Shankland refused to confirm if there were offers on the table from other clubs.

“Possibly, that would be telling right now,” he said. “Whether or not, we’ll see, it’s still early.

“I’m still playing football at the minute as well. I’ve always been a professional throughout and I would always have that approach and be respectful of the club as well.”

Hearts are closing in on appointing Derek McInnes as their new head coach early next week.

Shankland worked with the current Kilmarnock manager when the pair were at Aberdeen, so would McInnes be one of those he would speak to before making a decision?

“Possibly, if that’s the case,” Shankland said. “I’m sure there’ll be a conversation to be had, of course. If I was considering staying at the club, I’ll speak to whoever the new manager is.

“We’ll see. I’m not promising anything to anyone at the minute.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has called Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian’s £20m investment in the club a “game-changing endorsement”.

Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has bought an 8-10% stake in the women’s team, and stated an ambition to make it the “next global women’s sports brand”.

He is due to be at Wembley, with Williams, for Sunday’s FA Cup final, where Chelsea are aiming for a domestic Treble.

Bompastor said Ohanian’s investment will take Chelsea Women to another level, and the news would be an “extra motivation” for players and staff ahead of Sunday’s game against Manchester United.

“This investment is a game-changing endorsement for women’s game but also for young girls,” she said.

“It just shows we are in a really great place but we still want to be an even better team, better club, and we want to be one of the best teams in the world.

“That means results on the pitch but also we want to be a model outside the pitch, we want to make sure that when young girls look at our team they just dream of being one of our players of the future.”

Bompastor said she thought the financial backing, which brings with it a seat on the board of Chelsea Women, would be a “big help” in terms of them achieving an elusive Champions League title.

Chelsea have been dominant domestically, but they were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, beaten 8-2 on aggregate by holders Barcelona.

“We want to make sure we are in a position to compete for the Champions League,” added Bompastor.

“This year we couldn’t and we were not successful and I take the responsibility for that. Hopefully next year we will be in a better position. Having this exciting news and this great investment in the women’s team will help for sure.”

Last year a decision was taken to separate Chelsea’s men’s and women’s teams, as part of a strategic plan to help the club adhere to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

Bompastor said the decision to make the women’s team a separate entity was the “right decision”, as it meant Ohanian’s investment would solely benefit the women’s side.

“The club made some decisions in the past weeks and I think they made the right decisions, to allow this team to have investors to come in and bring the team even to another level.

“This will only go to the women’s team and will help the women’s team invest in terms of infrastructure, facilities, in terms of staff and players.”

Asked whether there was an extra buzz among the players following the news, Bompastor said: “I didn’t talk about it with the players but sure all of them are on social media.

“The game [on Sunday] is something we want to stay focused on, that’s really important.