Glasgow Rangers signed reported Leeds United target Ryan Kent from Liverpool in the summer transfer window.
Ryan Kent of Rangers
Leeds United wanted to sign Ryan Kent from Liverpool in the summer transfer window, but it was Steven Gerrard’s Glasgow Rangers who secured the services of the winger.
According to Sky Sports, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds made a bid of £4.5 million for Kent the day before the English transfer window closed, but Liverpool turned it down.
Then on the final day of the transfer window in Scotland, Rangers had an offer of £7.5m for the winger accepted by Liverpool, as reported by Sky Sports.
The signing was made immediately after Rangers’ defeat to Celtic at Ibrox in the Old Firm derby, but the club’s director of football Mark Allen has made it clear that the decision to bring Kent back to the Gers was not made because of the result.
Instead, according to Allen, Rangers progressing to the Europa League group stage was the decisive factor.
Allen told Sky Sports: “I think European qualification helped significantly, I think the directors looked at that. We made no secrets of the fact that Ryan was a target, he was a target all summer.”
When asked whether the defeat to Celtic played a part, Allen said: “No. We had a board meeting the prior Saturday before which myself and Steven attended.
“We went through the whole squad then in terms of what our targets were in the summer and where we’d got to with those targets, which was quite successful.
“The only one who we hadn’t got was Ryan, but it certainly wasn’t a reaction to the game.”
Leeds United never stood a chance
With Kent having enjoyed a successful loan spell at Rangers last season, Leeds were always playing second fiddle to the Gers in terms of signing the 22-year-old winger.
Moreover, Rangers were able to pay more than Leeds were willing to for Kent due to the Europa League coming in.
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