Recently Rangers were given some hope in their bid to land Liverpool winger Ryan Kent as reports from the Express emerged that the Champions League holders could change their tune if the English transfer window passes by and Kent remains at the Merseyside club. The report suggested that Liverpool could be open to sending Kent away on loan for another season after 8th August.
Latest update on Kent
However, that update has likely turned out to be bogus as reliable journalist James Pearce has recently tweeted that Liverpool will keep Kent at the club if a permanent move doesn’t go through.
Ryan Kent could leave before the deadline but not available for loan. #LFC want close to £10million for the winger, who has attracted interest from Leeds among others. If suitable offer not tabled Reds intend to keep him for season ahead.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) August 6, 2019
Leeds United seem to be a strong suitor at the moment especially after they parted ways with their main striker Kemar Roofe who joined Belgian heavyweights Anderlecht. That transfer should provide them with the funds to bring in Kent. Moreover, prominent journalist Phil Hay recently conveyed that Marcelo Bielsa could look to mould him as a centre forward option. So the move to Leeds United could very much be on the cards.
Amid all this, Rangers have seemingly turned out to be the big losers, and we feel that a final nail in the coffin has been laid in terms of the Glaswegian giants’ hopes of securing Kent again.
The English winger improved considerably in the last year as he played regularly for Rangers. His impact in the final third was there to see, and he influenced play in the attacking third immensely. One would have thought that with Gerrard at the helm of the club, Kent could have been secured for another year. However, business is business and Liverpool have seemingly taken a tough stance over the winger.
State of play at Rangers and what now for Gerrard?
Rangers still should have ample cover to cope without Kent. We have been maintaining that Rangers should treat the signing of Kent as a bonus once it became clear that Rangers will find it hard to sign him again. Gerrard would hope that Jamie Murphy could step up to the plate after his injury debacle. The winger is still in rehab, so it remains to be seen how he would go about his business once he becomes match fit.
Rangers have also parted way with Daniel Candeias and Glenn Middleton. Eros Grezda’s exit is also in the cards, but Gerrard recently revealed that no satisfactory bids had been registered. If the sale of the Albanian winger goes through, then the former Liverpool midfielder might want to bring in one more winger this summer as he had indicated that he could look to replace Candeias in this window itself.
