Ryan Kent is looking to force a loan move to Rangers through before the Scottish summer transfer window shuts on September 2, according to the Daily Record.
Manager Jurgen Klopp had ruled out another loan move and wanted to sell Kent for £7m but no offers have come in for the player yet.
The report claims that sources close to Kent have said the 22-year-old is ready to “down tools” in a bid to get his move after spending last season on loan at Ibrox.
Kent was not in the Liverpool Under-23 squad that faced Chelsea on Monday despite being fit.
TiF verdict
You have to feel some sympathy for Kent. He worked his socks off at Rangers last season and was an integral player for Steven Gerrard, winning both the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year as well as the club’s own award.
He’s got no chance of getting in the Liverpool first-team this season and is obviously desperate to play. A move to Rangers would suit both sides but the Scottish club can’t afford the £7m fee and Liverpool don’t want to loan him out.
Liverpool’s options are running out though. As are Kent’s.
He played five games in pre-season for Liverpool but only managed one assist in the 3-1 win against Bradford. However, he put in some tidy performances with a 92% pass success rate through 61 minutes against Borussia Dortmund [wyscout.com]. If he doesn’t get a move he faces playing for the Under-23s all season and that would be a real waste.
The hope will be that Liverpool are running the window down waiting for an offer before finding a compromise solution with Rangers that could involve a loan and an option to buy.
Downing tools seems like an odd turn of phrase to use for a story like this, though. Kent doesn’t really have the player power to “down tools” at Liverpool, a tactic that rarely works out well for the player involved anyway.