Rangers will be ‘desperate’ to renew Ryan Kent’s contract due to his importance in key moments.
That’s according to Rangers Review writer Jonny McFarlane, who has been speaking on the site’s YouTube channel on Monday morning.
The attacking ace sees his Ibrox deal expire at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, and having been the club’s arch-picker of locks last term with 20 assists, you could understand their fondness of the 25-year-old.
He is already off the mark this year in that department after playing a part in Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 turnaround win at Livingston.
Kent was particularly prominent during the Bears’ run to the Europa League final, contributing to five goals throughout the knockout stages – and McFarlane believes his ability to perform on the biggest stage is why Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be eager to keep hold of him.
He said: “I think he [Kent] needs to try and bring more goals to his game.
“There is no doubt, he is top-notch and Rangers will be desperate to get him signed up to a new deal because there’s no doubt, when it comes to the crunch, especially in the big games – against Celtic, in Europe – he’s the man you want on the pitch.”
TIF Thoughts on Kent and Rangers…
Will Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent leave Rangers this summer?
Yes
No
The £15.75m-rated ace backed up a breakthrough 2020/21 campaign which contained 13 goals and 15 assists with a staggeringly productive season last year. However, his goal tally did suffer, managing just three in 46 appearances, but there is no denying his importance to the team, while he has shown before that he can consistently deliver in both aspects.
With Alfredo Morelos’ future also under the spotlight as Gers look to go one better in Europe and regain possession of the Scottish title, keeping players like Kent and his Colombian teammate are bound to be important tasks for Van Bronckhorst, so we are not at all surprised by McFarlane’s comments.
Journalist Dean Jones has previously hinted that Kent would like to take his career elsewhere, but whether he does or not remains to be seen, and given his precarious contract situation, his future may be clarified sooner rather than later.