Derek McInnes once saw history repeat itself when Ryan Jack chose Rangers over Aberdeen, and now Scottish football has another stunning defection to process.
Lawrence Shankland has delighted Rangers supporters by returning to the club he supported as a boy, completing a move that has devastated his former fanbase in Gorgie.
The 30-year-old activated a clause in his contract that allowed him to exit a three-year Tynecastle deal after just 12 months, sending shockwaves across the Scottish capital.
Hearts fans have been left stunned by the move and are expected to give Shankland a hostile reception when he returns to Tynecastle as part of Danny Rohl’s squad.
Scottish football has a long and vivid history of controversial transfers, and Record Sport has looked back at some of the most contentious moves ever witnessed in the game.
Alfie Conn Jr became one of the most talked-about transfer figures in 1977 when he moved from Tottenham to Celtic, having previously starred for Rangers and featured in their victorious 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup lineup.
By becoming the first post-war player to cross the Old Firm divide, Conn saw his former followers in blue turn decisively against him.
No transfer, however, has ever matched the uproar caused by Mo Johnston’s move from Nantes to Rangers in 1989, which came after he had seemingly been on the verge of rejoining Celtic.
Johnston had been paraded by then Celtic manager Billy McNeill after promising to sign, but Rangers boss Graeme Souness stepped in when the Celtic board dithered, making Johnston the first high-profile Catholic to sign for Rangers in the modern era.
The move infuriated hardcore sections of the Ibrox support, though Johnston went some way to winning them over by netting a late winner against his former side just months after signing.
Michael Stewart crossed the Edinburgh divide not once but twice, joining Hearts on loan from Manchester United in 2005 before shocking the Gorgie faithful by pitching up at Easter Road the following season.
He helped Hibs win the 2007 League Cup but then left the Easter Road support stunned when he followed his heart back to Tynecastle for a second three-year stint.
Kenny Miller found himself at the centre of controversy when he signed for Gordon Strachan’s Celtic despite having previously had a spell at Ibrox, before inflaming tensions further by moving back to Rangers two years later.
Miller eventually fought his way back into the affections of the Rangers faithful by scoring twice in a 4-2 win at Parkhead, going on to become a key figure as Walter Smith’s side won three titles in succession.
Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley left Hearts for Celtic in 2006 and 2007 respectively, following a now-famous press conference in which they revealed “significant unrest in the Hearts dressing room” under Vladimir Romanov’s ownership.
Both players went on to win an SPL crown with Celtic, departing a Hearts side that had briefly threatened Old Firm dominance with a 10-game unbeaten run earlier in the 2005/06 season.
David Templeton’s £700,000 move from Hearts to Rangers in 2012 proved especially contentious given the long list of creditors left out of pocket by Rangers’ financial collapse, which had seen the club banished to the old Third Division.
Ryan Jack’s Bosman move from Aberdeen to Rangers in 2017 provoked fierce outcry in the north-east, with boss Derek McInnes stripping him of the captaincy ahead of that year’s Scottish Cup final after feeling betrayed by his refusal to sign a new deal.
Jordan Jones rounded off a notable list of controversial switches when he agreed a pre-contract move from Kilmarnock to Rangers in 2019, taking to social media to describe it as a “dream move” before Killie boss Steve Clarke offered a firm response.
Clarke told supporters, “If fans boo Jordan, then they’re booing me as well,” and Jones repaid that backing by netting the winner against his future employers in their next league meeting.
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