Aston Villa ‘could look at’ signing Ryan Kent before the transfer deadline on Thursday.
That is according to journalist Josh Holland, who was speaking to GiveMeSport about Aston Villa’s potential transfer business during the final week of the window.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard has previously worked with Kent during his time as Rangers manager and has been touted to make a potential move for the wide-man throughout his tenure at Villa Park.
However, Gers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed back in July that the club were in talks to extend Kent’s contract, with the 25-year-old having just one year remaining on his current deal which reportedly includes a £20m release clause.
But Holland believes that Kent could be a wide forward that Villa could explore the signing of following the breakdown in negotiations for Watford and Senegal winger Ismaïla Sarr.
He said: “The Sarr move apparently didn’t work out because of Gerrard’s decision to go against the move, so it’s got to be someone that Gerrard prefers.
“You could look at potentially Ryan Kent at Rangers.
“They’ve obviously worked together and I think he’s proven himself the last couple of games against PSV with his quality.”
TIF Thoughts on Holland’s comments…
We believe that Kent would be a solid addition for Gerrard’s side this summer and it would be interesting to see what transfer fee it would take to convince Rangers to part with the winger should the Englishman not sign a new deal at the club.
The former England U20 international, who has been described as “electric” by journalist Jacob Schneider, has really found his feet in Glasgow after leaving Liverpool for Rangers initially on loan in 2017, having scored 28 goals and provided 33 assists in 138 appearances for the Ibrox club under Gerrard, according to Transfermarkt.
Therefore, we believe that if Gerrard can garner Kent’s form from Scotland at Villa, then the West Midlands club should be going all out to secure the wide man’s signature this summer.