---
title: "Frank McAvennie believes West Ham should sign Dundee United’s Laurence Shankland"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2020/02/05/frank-mcavennie-believes-west-ham-should-sign-dundee-uniteds-laurence-shankland/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Murray"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2020-02-05T20:00:00Z"
modified: "2020-02-05T20:00:00Z"
---

# Frank McAvennie believes West Ham should sign Dundee United’s Laurence Shankland

Former West Ham man Frank McAvennie believes that the Hammers should sign Dundee United’s Laurence Shankland.

The Scottish forward has been in fantastic form so far this season and has netted [22 goals in 20 games](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lawrence-shankland/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/225744/wettbewerb/SC2/saison/2019) so far in the Scottish Championship.

Shankland has seen many clubs in England and Scotland take an interest in him, including the likes of [Norwich](https://readnorwich.com/2019/12/31/norwich-eyeing-january-swoop-for-shankland/) and [Celtic](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/lawrence-shankland-transfer-warning-fired-21315618), but no moves happened before the January window slammed shut.

Speaking to [The Courier](https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/1120978/dundee-united-lawrence-shankland-frank-mcavennie-west-ham-transfer-news/), former West Ham man McAvennie urged the striker to make the move down to England, and revealed that he would love to see him make the move to the Hammers.

> He’s got to go to England and I’d love him at West Ham.
>
> I can’t believe a top Championship club or a Premier League club near the bottom of the table didn’t come in for him in the transfer window.
>
> If someone called me up and asked me about Lawrence Shankland, I’d tell them to take a chance on him.
>
> The strikers at West Ham are big lads but they don’t have the mobility of Shankland.
>
> His movement in the box is brilliant. He’s a proper striker, you can’t teach what he’s got.
>
> He reacts to everything. I’d love to say you can teach people what he’s got but you can’t.
>
> If I had a magic wand I’d be down at West Ham right now teaching the strikers.
>
> There are a lot of manufactured players around at the moment but Shankland isn’t one of them.
>
> He’s had setbacks and the penny dropped for him. He’s had to really apply himself and he’s getting the rewards now.

### Read West Ham’s verdict

Shankland has shown that he has the goalscoring touch in the Scottish Championship, but would he be able to convert that to English football?

He has already been handed an international call-up for Scotland, and [scored against world footballing minnows San Marino](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lawrence-shankland/leistungsdaten/spieler/225744), but he has never scored a goal in the [Scottish top flight, in 17 appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lawrence-shankland/leistungsdaten/spieler/225744).

Therefore, it could potentially be a huge risk to sign him if a big fee was in play.

However, the stats suggest that his ability in front of goal cannot be questioned and it the high praise from McAvennie, who also played up front, is also an added boost for the Scottish star.

If the fee isn’t too big, then West Ham should surely consider a swoop to sign the Scot as his goalscoring abilities would be an asset to the club, if he could replicate his form in Scotland if he did move south of the border.