Evening Press reporter Dave Flett has stated that York City’s out-of-contract top scorer Michael Rankine has admitted that he may be on his way out of the Conference club.
The striker, who netted 14 times this season, turned down a new deal with the Minstermen in January and manager Gary Mills has not offered him improved terms since.
Flett has reported that Mills is yet to decide whether Rankine forms part of his plans for the 2011/12 campaign and, in the meantime, the 6ft 3in striker is believed to be thinking over a move to The Shots.
Rankine was in the crowd for Aldershot’s final game of the season at Lincoln City on Saturday but insisted that he was only there to meet up with his former Rushden team-mate Clayton Fortune, who was in the Shots line up, and said: “I’ve not signed for anybody yet.
“There is interest from Aldershot and that could be an option. Maybe it’s looking that way but everybody knows what football’s like – nothing’s certain until you’ve put pen to paper.
“There are also a couple of other things out there for me but nothing massive at the moment. The manager [Mills] wants time to address everything and see what he wants to do with the squad but whatever happens has to happen quickly for me because I have a family to look after.
“For me to be waiting around for something when the manager could then say there isn’t anything, means I might have to go for whatever I have now. I love York and have enjoyed my time there but I had an offer in January from the club and turned it down because I didn’t think it was financially good enough for me and I’ve not been offered anything else as yet.
"It’s a hard one but sometimes you have to move on. I’ve given 100 per cent every week I was at the club and hope I’ve done myself justice.”
Speculation linking Rankine to Aldershot first emerged around three weeks ago however, the ex-Doncaster trainee insisted such talk did not play on his mind, adding: “It didn’t unsettle me as I didn’t really get the chance for it to unsettle me because, once the rumours came out, I didn’t really play.”
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