Liverpool staff thought Rangers winger Ryan Kent was good enough to move back to the Premier League from Scottish football.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim that Liverpool have a sell-on clause should Kent leave Ibrox.
The clause is reportedly 20% of any fee Rangers would receive for the 25-year-old. It’s claimed that Liverpool inserted the condition in 2019 as staff at Anfield believed he would ‘earn himself’ a move to the English top-flight.
That could of course still happen. Kent has one year left on his contract in Glasgow, with talks reportedly ‘continuing’ over a new deal.
Kent failing to kick-on fully at Rangers
At the time that Liverpool eventually sold Kent for £7.5m in 2019, this looked like a safe bet. He had established himself at Rangers the previous season on-loan and looked set for big things in Scotland.
Aged just twenty-two at the time of his sale, there was good reason to believe Liverpool could fetch a decent little fee in the future.
But despite some eye-catching displays for Rangers, no sale has been forthcoming. As a result, Kent now looks set for a fifth season in the Scottish Premiership.
Notably, he excelled under Steven Gerrard as The Gers won the title for the first time in a decade in 2021. He scored 13 goals in 52 games that season. Disappointingly, he followed that up with just three in 46 in 2021/22.
Turning twenty-six in November, Kent needs a big season this time around if he’s to make good on his potential.
There’s plenty to be said about enjoying a good career at one of Scotland’s top two sides. But he’ll surely be desperate to show Liverpool that they were wrong to let him go by coming back and excelling in England.
Kent’s contract is dwindling, though and the years are ticking on. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that the man who spent 11 years at Liverpool will provide them with a further cash injection in the future.
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