OPINION
Steven Gerrard has been upfront in his desire to bring Liverpool’s Ryan Kent back to Ibrox this summer – and it’s no wonder.
Kent was one of the standout players in the Premiership last season and he picked up the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award after scoring six goals and adding six assists in the league.
He endeared himself to the Gers fans with his attacking verve and passion, the latter evidenced by his infamous punch to Celtic’s Scott Brown.
Big blow for Rangers
However, a move is looking less likely now after Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that Kent would only move if a permanent offer came in for him.
Talking after his side’s friendly against Napoli at the weekend Klopp said, “His time is over for loans. At the age he is now, he needs to find a place where he can settle. We will see what happens but a loan is not planned.” [BBC]
At 22 this makes sense for Kent, with his club putting an £8m price tag on his head. If he’s not going to get a chance for Liverpool then he needs to move to a club that will value him and offer him first-team football.
That would obviously happen at Ibrox but that’s a huge amount of money for the Scottish giants. It would mean beating every transfer fee paid by them bar the £12m for Tore André Flo almost 20 years ago.
Time for Rangers to make a statement of intent
There’s goodwill between the two clubs though, with the close links between Steven Gerrard and Liverpool. And Klopp admitted he was happy with Kent’s season in Scotland saying, “He came back as a completely different player and it was a very important year for him.”
If Rangers could structure a deal that would work for them it would be a massive statement of intent as well as proof that they can still attract quality players from the Premier League.
It’s a big ask but Gerrard and Mark Allen must do everything in their power to land the 22-year-old.