Ipswich Town and Southampton miss out as top flight transfer target ‘turns back’ on Championship offers

The Championship duo, both relegated from the Premier League last season, have failed in their attempts to sign a prolific Scottish Premier League forward.

After relegation to the Championship from the Premier League, both Ipswich Town and Southampton will occupy two of the 24 places in the upcoming second tier campaign.

At St Mary’s, Southampton appointed Will Still to spearhead the club’s second tier campaign, with the highly-rated former Sunderland target Still arriving from Ligue 1 outfit RC Lens.

Kieran McKenna oversaw Ipswich’s relegation last season, and the Tractor Boys boss will be hoping to mastermind another promotion to the top flight in the 2025/26 Championship season.

As both bosses prepare in the summer transfer window with promotion in the crosshairs, Ipswich and Southampton have been dealt a major blow in their pursuit of Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland.

Ipswich Town and Southampton suffer blow with transfer target Lawrence Shankland

EFL Analysis revealed earlier in the summer that Ipswich and Southampton were tracking Lawrence Shankland, and were both considering offers for the Hearts forward, who was approaching the expiry of his contract with the SPL outfit.

Back in May, our Chief Football correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed that the Scottish international was attracting interest from the MLS, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia as well as clubs in France and Germany.

We understood that Shankland was “very much on Ipswich’s radar” following the loss of star striker Liam Delap to Chelsea, in which Ipswich pulled off a masterstroke in the £30m Delap sale.

Before Still’s arrival, the Saints were also “looking closely”, but now Fabrizio Romano has claimed on X that Shankland has “agreed to re-sign” at Hearts after rejecting “big-money” offers from abroad.

In another EFL Analysis exclusive on Shankland, Bailey has further updated the situation. Bailey revealed: “I am told that whilst not done, Hearts have made a breakthrough with Shankland, and they are close to persuading him to sign a new deal.

“EFL Analysis can confirm that West Brom, Ipswich, Southampton, and Leicester all made approaches, but he is turning his back on that chance.

Lawrence Shankland’s goalscoring record in 2024/25 and overall for Hearts, data as per Fotmob

“There were offers in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, too. This is a real coup for Hearts and manager Derek McInnes to persuade him to stay.”

Shankland’s record over recent seasons would’ve made him an impressive signing for Ipswich in the wake of Delap’s departure and filled a glaring gap in Still’s Saints squad.

Ipswich Town and Southampton will regret missing out on Lawrence Shankland

Shankland’s best performance of the SPL season came in Hearts’ 3-1 win over Ross County, in which the 29-year-old forward scored a brace and notched an assist to inspire his side to victory.

Since arriving at Hearts from Belgian Pro League side Beerschot in the summer of 2022, Shankland has cemented himself as one of the Scottish top flight’s most productive forwards.

Both Ipswich and Southampton are in desperate need of goalscoring reinforcements this summer and have been actively searching for centre-forwards in the window.

McKenna’s Ipswich are among 10 clubs tracking Richard Kone after his 18-goal campaign at Wycombe Wanderers in League One, and face a difficult task to land the frontman as Wycombe plot a record offer to keep Kone.

At the Saints, centre-forward Ross Stewart has a point to prove to Southampton in the 2025/26 season and the St Mary’s faithful will be hoping the Scotsman can rediscover the goalscoring form he exhibited at Sunderland and stay fully fit.

Given Shankland’s prolific record in front of goal, and the ability to have signed him on a free transfer, both clubs will be left regretting their refusal to secure the striker’s signature this summer.