Striker has eyes set on playing at higher level
that wasn’t good enough?” I don’t feel I have experienced that yet. You could finish your career and have regrets and say: “I wish I had tried that and seen if I could play there”. If you get the chance, you try and go and do it. ‘But I would never be disrespectful to what I have got at Hearts. The club have been great for me since I have gone there and have given me a real platform to perform at a high level with a top Scottish club. I really enjoy it there. If I am there for the next season, I am more than happy.’ Having started out with Queen’s Park, Shankland moved to Aberdeen and had various loan spells before becoming a prolific striker with Ayr United. His spells with Dundee United and Hearts came either side of a year in Belgium with Beerschot — the only time he’s played outside Scotland. Asked if trying his luck in England held appeal, he added: ‘I don’t know. There are loads of leagues all over Europe. I have been abroad before. I will see. I will go abroad again. ‘But, as I say, I am still under contract at Hearts and I would never disrespect that position.’ Although he seems unlikely to extend his commitment to Hearts beyond 2025, Shankland hasn’t ruled out the possibility of staying for a third season at the place where he has played the most productive football of his career. ‘That is another option,’ he stressed. ‘I have got a duty and a responsibility to set myself up as well and I feel like I owe that to myself with how hard I have worked in my career. I will look to do that as well. If that is at Hearts then so be it, I will be happy. ‘We have had really open conversations — Naisy (manager Steven Naismith), myself and the club as a whole. We all understand the situation. They want me to progress in my career as well and do really well. The main thing is everybody is on the same page. We will see what the summer brings.’ The first Hearts player to win the award since it started in 1977-78, Shankland said he was honoured to win the poll of his fellow professionals. ‘To get voted by the boys in the league, opposition players who you are playing against week in, week out, is good,’ he said. ‘I have obviously made a lasting impression on them, and they have kept it in their minds when they had to decide.’