As many of you may know by now, Alan Nixon of The Sun (apologies for linking to them) is out with a story that Leeds United have made a £10m bid for Rangers winger Ryan Kent. This really seems to have come out of left field as no one had any inkling of this whatsoever.
Phil Hay of The Athletic is the most reliable source when it comes to Ryan Kent, and this is what he had to say on the subject, “like Harry Wilson, someone who they’ve been keen on before. Looked at him very closely last summer”. Not a denial of the transfer story but no confirmation either. And you have to remember that Phil Hay is the guy who breaks 90% of the Leeds United transfer stories. The other reliable source on Leeds United is the chief football writer of the YEP, Graham Smyth. He had nothing to say on this matter on Twitter as well.
I also messaged Ryan Kent’s agent, but as of writing this article, I am yet to hear back.
Something smells. While not ruling out the Sun story, even Leeds United surely realise that they would have to spend much more than £10m to get Rangers even remotely interested. With the Gers having already started one of the more important campaigns in recent times, it is very very unlikely that they would sell unless the price is truly ridiculous.
While Leeds United definitely have money to spend now that they are a Premier League side again, they have tons of other priorities before they can even think about getting someone in left-wing. Jack Harrison is someone who has been a constant the last two seasons under Bielsa, and his improvement has been there for everyone to notice. It would not be easy for Kent to simply go in and make that slot his own.
The Whites need to get a centre half or preferably two (their primary target is still Ben White), a goalkeeper and a striker (currently they have only Patrick Bamford who doesn’t really bang the goals in). So this itself would take a substantial chunk of the transfer budget Leeds United will have. Also, getting Bielsa on a new contract is not going to be cheap.
Now Rangers will demand a premium if this story is indeed true. And I don’t see Leeds United paying around £18m-£20m for a player who is not really a priority right now. I just don’t know how this has any chance of happening.
Just wanted to give all of you here an update on my thoughts on this Ryan Kent story. I think this will become a lot clearer in the next 48 hours if there was any merit in the Sun article at all.
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