Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has revealed that he has spoken to Liverpool about the future of Ibrox loanee Ryan Kent.
Although the Gers boss didn’t say the words ‘I want to sign Kent’, the inference is clear after his latest comments revealed how highly the Reds legend regards the 22-year-old.
“Liverpool and Ryan and his reps… I’ve made it very clear what I would like,” he said, as per The Herald. “Unfortunately, I don’t make the final decision on it. But credit to Ryan, after a couple of loans where he never played or reached his potential, he’s flying at the moment.
“The players are loving having him here and playing with him. And Ryan’s having the time of his life. I think the next decision on Ryan’s future has to be made very carefully because, for me, football’s about happiness. Sometimes it’s difficult to find that. You have to be around the right people at the right place. So I will be interested to see what the next decision is on him. Unfortunately, I don’t make that.”
OPINION
Gerrard’s right, this loan spell at Ibrox has been absolutely invaluable for Kent. He hasn’t quite got going in any of his more recent loans, but this one has seen him take a huge leap forward. With that said, there’s no surprise that Gerrard wants to keep him in Glasgow on a permanent basis. To be honest, is Kent really going to make the grade at Liverpool? Probably not at this stage. It would be far better for him to remain at Rangers where he is valued and is performing well week in week out. But, as Gerrard says, he doesn’t make the decision on the player’s future. That’s for Jurgen Klopp and the other decision-makers at Anfield to decide. It would be nice for them to do Gerrard a favour and give him first refusal on Kent, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Whatever the Reds’ decision is, though, there’s no doubt that the youngster ends this season in a much better place than he started it.
