A loan move to Rangers doesn’t look viable for the winger this summer.
Kent enjoyed a successful season at Ibrox last term, emerging as one of the stand-out players in Steven Gerrard’s team.
His peers voted him as the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year after 43 appearances in all competitions.
Returning to the Reds to take part in their pre-season tour of the USA, hopes have been high all summer in the Rangers camp that he could move back to Glasgow.
Klopp though doesn’t see that as an option, telling The Daily Record: “The time is over, I think, for loans, because of his age.
“The players need to find a place where they can settle. A loan is not an option.”
With the paper also claiming that Liverpool value him at as much as £10m in the transfer market, Rangers are highly unlikely to have the spending power to secure his permanent signature.
There’s no doubt it’s bad news for Steven Gerrard, who is on the record saying he would wait until the last possible second of the transfer window to sign the player up for the coming season.
Gerrard though must go against that instinct because the only positive from the current situation is that Klopp has left them plenty of time to secure a replacement.
The Gers haven’t been left flat-footed here. There is over a month to go until the end of the Scottish transfer window and the prospect of re-signing Kent has in truth always been speculative.
Managing director Stewart Robertson insisted last week that the capability is there to sign another player if the right talent becomes available.
The Rangers manager and his recruitment team must now move on from the Kent saga and find a new, more affordable player that can help unlock defensive teams in the Scottish Premiership.
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