Former England international Danny Mills has said that there is ‘no way’ winger Ryan Kent will be staying at Liverpool this summer.
The 22-year-old enjoyed a tremendous loan spell with Scottish giants Rangers this season, and BBC pundit Mills feels it’s inevitable that he will move on again in short order.
“He’s a million miles away from the Liverpool squad, let’s be honest,” he told Football Insider. “He’s a young, talented player but he won’t be in Klopp’s side next season.
“He’ll either move permanently or go out on loan again, there’s no way he’s staying. When you are young, you have to go away for a couple of seasons and earn your stripes somewhere else. Liverpool are going to be challenging for the Premier League next season. Unless you are exceptional, you are not going to be getting in that squad.”
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with Mills, here, to be honest. Kent is very talented and would be a regular starter with plenty of top flight teams in England and Scotland, but Liverpool is a different kettle of fish entirely. The Reds will be challenging for domestic and European honours for years to come so Jurgen Klopp is only going to integrate players who can make his team better into his squad. Would Kent do that? You’d have to say no, at this stage of his career. If the club are still high on him after the progress he made at Rangers then they can make the decision simply to loan him out again this summer. However, they might be wise to cash in on him while his stock is high. The Englishman is a good player, that’s already been said, but he’s probably never quite going to be strong enough to make the grade at Anfield. It would be best for everyone, then, if the club moved him on this summer for a big fee.
