When numerous first-team players’ contracts expired last summer, Michael Beale let them go, leaving Glasgow Rangers with a significant rebuilding job on their hands.
The 2022–2023 campaign ended with notifications to Allan McGregor, Ryan Kent, Filip Helander, Scott Arfield, and Alfredo Morelos that they would not be getting extensions.
Helander, McGregor, and Arfield were all over 30, and Beale thought he needed to take a different approach for the upcoming campaign for obvious reasons.
Losing Kent and Morelos for nothing was bad business in their eyes. Over the years, the pair had become fan favorites, dazzled during moments, and assisted the Ibrox team in winning their first Premiership in 10 years in the 2020–21 season.
At his peak, Morelos was unstoppable, and he scored 124 goals in 269 appearances for the Gers, setting a new record for them in European play. In 2017, he only cost £1 million, but he more than paid for it over the years.
Although Kent’s skill on the left flank made him unplayable at times as well, there was a sense that he underperformed at Rangers, especially given the price they paid to recruit him.
The sum paid by the Rangers to acquire Ryan Kent
After a fruitful loan stint at Ibrox in Steven Gerrard’s debut season as manager, when he picked up nine assists and scored six goals, the former captain of Anfield utilized his contacts at the team and his rapport with Jürgen Klopp to finalize a permanent transfer for the winger.
In fact, the Englishman—who will cost the Light Blues approximately £7.5 million—was revealed as their newest addition on September 3rd, 2019, marking the highest transfer fee since the team’s return to the Premiership in 2016.
Rangers player Ryan Kent’s statistics
Given the sum of money required to acquire his services, the wingswinger’s 12 goal contributions—eight goals and four assists—were barely spectacular.
The next season, he more than made up for it as the Gers improved month after month and crushed Celtic to win a record-tying 55th league title. At moments, Kent was outstanding.
This was supposed to be Kent’s springboard to further develop and guide the team to more success in 2021–2022, but things didn’t work out as planned.
Though Kent did not match his previous season’s performances, the Ibrox team did win the Scottish Cup and make it to the Europa League final. In the playoff round, Kent did provide two assists against Borussia Dortmund.
That season, he only managed three goals, and the next season—his final one with Rangers—saw him even less productive—just 10 assists and three goals for the 27-year-old.
Former teammate Leon Balogun once referred to Kent as a “wizard,” but last year he was anything but, and at the end of the season, he left for fresh pastures.
The record of Ryan Kent since leaving the Rangers
The player found a new team quickly, agreeing to a contract with Fenerbahçe in the summer of last year in front of the 2023–2024 campaign.
The winger’s decision may have come as a surprise, but it offered him a chance to move on from the disastrous campaign he had to suffer and a new beginning on the continent.
It appeared as though things could go well in Turkey as he scored on his club debut in the Europa Conference League qualifiers, but Kent’s time in Turkey turned out to be a false dawn.
The 27-year-old is currently without a goal and has only contributed two assists as of this writing. He is also no longer able to play for the team.
It’s obvious that the move backfired, and now that he has a busy summer ahead of him, his concerns are centered on his future.
In addition, the winger is making more money than James Tavernier for a much smaller amount of attacking production than the Rangers captain does each week.
Ryan Kent’s pay in relation to the Rangers team
The former star player for Rangers is being paid £54.7k a week by the Turkish team. These salaries are ostentatious to say the least, given the minimal influence he has had at Fenerbahçe.
To put that in context, Tavernier’s weekly salary is currently £30,000. Though this is still a respectable amount and places him as the club’s second top earning, it is almost half of Kent’s weekly salary.
The right-back has contributed more than ten times as many goals and assists as Kent has this season alone, with 21 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for the Light Blues.
Given that Kent was eager to leave, the club may have wanted to sign him to a longer deal in order to get a higher price, but his departure was undoubtedly timely.
As previously noted, the former Anfield jewel was a magician on the left wing in his prime, easily defeating opponents and having a sharp eye for goal.
But in his last few months with Rangers, his play quickly declined and the fans lost sight of the winger who had been so brilliant in his first few years in Glasgow.
Whatever happens, Kent needs to join with a team in the summer where he can play regularly. If he doesn’t, his previously extraordinary talent will go, and he might even need to drop a level to restore his reputation.
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