£6.5m star told he’ll miss out on Aston Villa move, Gerrard not ‘interested’

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Ryan Kent’s poor form at Rangers appears to have scuppered his chances of a reunion with Steven Gerrard at Premier League outfit Aston Villa, former Old Firm ace Kris Commons tells the Daily Mail.

15 games into the new season, Kent’s personal tally stands at four assists and just one measly goal. And it’s not just the statistics either.

Watching the one-time Liverpool youngster in action, Kent looks a shadow of the once electrifying widemen who struck fear into the heart of every Premiership full-back a year-and-a-half ago; the intensity and incision that marked his early Rangers career replaced by uncertainty and an almost chronic absence of threat.

Would Steven Gerrard bring Rangers winger Ryan Kent to Aston Villa?

“Ryan Kent has been playing — or at least he has been on the pitch. He’s quick but doesn’t score and doesn’t provide assists,” says Commons, the one-time Celtic forward. “And he cost £6.5m? It will be fascinating to see where he ends up when his contract expires next summer.

“It says much that even Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, who knows him best, doesn’t appear to be interested in him.

“He’d two chances to prove his worth against his former club (Liverpool in the Champions League) last week. And he was posted missing in both of them.”

Kent, in fairness, is far from the only Rangers player performing well below expectations this term. James Tavernier, Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara and John Lundstram have had their fair share of critics too in a difficult start to the new campaign under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, particularly during a humiliating Champions League group-stage campaign.

But the fact remains that Kent, who could have earned Rangers a fee in the region of £20 million 18 months ago, is now playing like a footballer worth a fraction of such a sum. And not just because he is entering the final year of his contract.

“Wel, he has to bring more,” Van Bronckhorst sighs. “Ryan is an exceptional player with a lot of qualities. I think the qualities haven’t been there every game.

“He just needs to be consistent and make sure he gives them the best positions on the pitch to be dangerous. To either have an assist or to score the chances he creates himself. He’s definitely a player who can give us more goals and assists.”