Hold up, are you saying that buying players 'with a view to selling for a hefty profit' has worked for us over the past 5-6 years?
This mythical player trading model is almost entirely contingent upon winning leagues and European success.
Nobody is going to buy second rate duds from the SPFL at inflated prices. Whoever we are buying has to be part of a title winning side or a side that is consistently excellent at top level (i.e. European), else they need to be the second coming of Laudrup to be sold at huge profit.
Whether you want to buy to sell, or buy to win, we still need players that win us leagues and a core squad who are here for the long term to sustain that success.
The idea we're going to sign 3 or 4 Calvin Basseys every year, win the league and punt them for £10m profit is ludicrous.
I'm not saying Shankland is the difference between winning or not winning the league, but if we can sign someone that can easily score 15-20 goals, who is around the national side, has 3-4 good years left in him and is a Rangers man, it's kinda a no-brainer to have a guy like that in the squad.