The race for Ryan Kent seems to be heating up with every passing day. Various reports have done the rounds in the past few weeks especially with Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa joining the race to sign him. Liverpool, on the other hand, were reportedly willing to sell Kent permanently, valuing him around £12m. With that kind of price tag, Rangers are practically out of the race of signing him permanently, but a loan deal is something which they can try for again.
With Villa moving to the Premier League, one might think that they have a significant advantage in luring Kent. The English winger had also claimed that he doesn’t want to keep on changing clubs anymore. He was quoted as saying, ”I want to kick-start my career somewhere now. I am tired of changing clubs each year; I want to settle down somewhere. Liverpool have been good to me, but the enjoyment factor of going back there each year and doing well in pre-season and going back out on loan, it is a repetitive cycle.”
It’s tough to say who will win the race for him. Kent has previously indicated that he wouldn’t mind moving to Rangers permanently, but the Gers don’t have the financial power to meet Liverpool’s demands. However, there are still some factors which can go their way. Let’s see what advantages Rangers might have.
Rangers have shown the real value of Kent
Liverpool are now valuing Kent at £12m, and it has all happened because of his successful loan spell at Ibrox. Before the start of the 2018 season, we don’t think that the Reds would have valued him that much and it is Rangers who have managed to bring the best out of him in the past year.
Maybe Liverpool might feel that if the winger can have another influential spell, then his value might rise further and the Merseyside club can sell him for even higher profits in the future.
His previous failures in England
The player clearly looks frustrated about changing clubs and working hard every season to establish himself. We saw how he improved once he settled in at Ibrox and he had the confidence of playing regularly without the pressure of being dropped every now and then. Therefore even Kent might feel good about going to a club where he is already settled and is a fan favourite.
The Gerrard factor
We wouldn’t be even talking about Rangers as a contender in this race if Gerrard wouldn’t have been at the helm of the club. Maybe he would be able to convince Klopp and Liverpool hierarchy to give him one more season to bring out the best from Kent. The results are there to see as Kent never really managed to hit this level at any clubs on loan before and it is Gerrard who has utilised him the best. So this is something which can work in Rangers’ favour as well.
