Ryan Kent wants first-team football this season and would stand a much greater chance at Sunderland than Liverpool.
Ryan Kent could hardly have done more to impress under the beady, bespectacled eyes of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in pre-season.
The talented winger, one of the most exciting youth products to emerge at Liverpool in many a year, immediately stood out when given the chance against elite opposition, giving Bayern Munich plenty of headaches with a scintillating display in The Reds’ 3-0 Audi Cup triumph at the Allianz Arena.
Kent is a player whose stock is rising all the time. An impressive loan spell at Barnsley last season raised a few eyebrows and, with Liverpool unwilling to loan him out again earlier in the summer despite huge interest, the expectation was that the 20-year-old would be given a chance in the first-team this season.
However, that may be easier said than done. Kent has not appeared in any of Liverpool’s first three Premier League games with Sadio Mane and new signing Mo Salah starring on the wings. And the arrival of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal for £35 million, per the BBC, represents yet another obstacle potentially blocking Kent’s route to the first-team.
As such, the Liverpool Echo reports that Kent is keen to play regular first-team football this season and Liverpool face a decision whether or not to loan him out. Any other attacking incomings would surely mean Kent will spend the season aware from Anfield.
And the report claims that Sunderland and Middlesbrough are interested. The former could certainly do with Kent’s ability to produce something out of nothing and his direct, pacey wingplay.
After all, Sunderland look likely to lose Wahbi Khazri, one of the few natural widemen in Simon Grayson’s squad, and Kent would be a fine replacement having proven himself at Barnsley. With a £1 million loan fee touted by the Echo, he is well within Sunderland’s budget and would surely look an inspired bargain at the Stadium of Light.
Therefore, Grayson may be hoping there’s one more attacking set to arrive at Anfield on Thursday.
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