Any interested parties in Lawrence Shankland were told by Heart of Midlothian it would take an "exceptional" price to land the club's star man - and it would have involved breaking the record transfer fee between Scottish clubs.

The talismanic Hearts striker was the subject of intense speculation before the January transfer window and throughout the month. Despite the rampant links with Rangers, no offer was forthcoming from any club, something which wasn't a surprise to the club's chief executive Andrew McKinlay as they sought to hold onto the player.

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"I can only speak personally, but I didn't believe we would get a bid from anyone," he said. "Now, I don't know if that is because we said it would take an exceptional price - I have no idea - but you still get to transfer deadline day and you wonder if someone is going to come in with even a silly bid, or throw something in. But absolutely nothing.

"We're delighted and as we said from day one, we wanted to keep Lawrence. And we've managed to achieve that. It's great that we've got him for at least another 18 months and we'll see how things pan out."

How much would it have taken for Hearts to consider selling the player who has hit 20-plus goals in back-to-back seasons for the club? A lot is the obvious answer with the potential award of European group-stage football waiting for the team that finishes third in the Scottish Premiership.

"There were some numbers - and those numbers, without going into detail, were predicated on what happens if we sell Lawrence and we don't get group-stage football," McKinlay explained. "And we know exactly what that's worth, so it had to be in that ballpark and upward of that ballpark for it to make any sense.

"That's not to say we wouldn't get third without Lawrence - but it certainly would have been a massive high risk.

"I think people forget that the Scottish transfer record sits at £4.5million between Scottish clubs and that was Scott Brown a good few years ago. And it would have to be in excess of something like that. Were we really expecting the Scottish transfer record to be broken? I don't think so - and there was never any hint that it was going to be."

Amidst the transfer speculation was the contract offer from Hearts to extend Shankland's deal beyond the 18 months left on his current terms. 

A few eyebrows were raised over the club's deadline of the second offer, something the player admitted came a "bit quick" for him. But the stance was to ensure it didn't drag into the second half of the campaign. McKinlay suspects there may well be ongoing chats.

READ MORE: The transfer window Hearts wanted: Shankland staying to priority signing

"Any contract we've put on the table we've been told that they wouldn't be acceptable to him so that's where they sit," he said. "The deadline is gone so there is nothing on the table at the moment. Does that mean there won't be ongoing chats? I'm sure there will be but who knows?

"At the moment we are pleased we have got through this period, we made what we thought were really good offers. You can't force someone to stay. Players have the power to run down the contract if they want. I'd be surprised if there weren't further conversations at some point. At the moment I suspect we are all drawing a line under this."

He added: "Hopefully, we can just get on with the football and play. You never say never because his agents might come and speak to us, who knows? From my perspective, the line has been drawn under this chapter and we just need to focus we stay in third place."