Since taking over in mid-October, Glasgow Rangers manager Philippe Clement has completely changed the Ibrox team. Under Michael Beale, the Gers had struggled in the first few weeks of the season, losing three of their first seven Premiership games and being eliminated from the Champions League at the final qualifying round.
After a 3-1 loss to Aberdeen at Ibrox, he was fired, and it was maybe the best move the board made of the season—especially considering Clement’s incredible start.
During his ten months as the club’s manager, Beale struggled not only with the team’s performance but also with player management, as he failed to sign numerous important players to long-term contracts in the second half of the 2022–2023 season.
After one of these players moved, his market value increased significantly, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Beale made a mistake by allowing him to go for free.
Ryan Kent’s reasons for leaving the Rangers
Although the English winger entered the 2022–2023 season aware that it would be his final with Rangers under contract, neither Giovanni van Bronckhorst nor Beale made any mention of a contract extension as the season went on.
He wasn’t the only player without a new contract as the season’s end drew near; Scott Arfield, Alfredo Morelos, Filip Helander, and Allan McGregor were in a similar situation.
Even though the last two were probably going to leave, Beale appeared to be going his own way and having a summer clear-out, while Kent, Morelos, and Arfield all had legitimate claims to an extension.
It brought an end to an outstanding five-year run at Ibrox during which Kent routinely dismantled opposition defenses both nationally and internationally.
The Rangers’ market worth of Ryan Kent
After a strong loan stint during which the young player contributed 15 goals in all competitions (six goals and nine assists), including a solo goal against Celtic, Steven Gerrard made a big push to sign him permanently.
Although it seemed like a lot of money, the former captain of Liverpool paid £7.5 million to entice Kent away from Jürgen Klopp’s team in order to strengthen his squad. Kent quickly began paying back the Ibrox team.
In his first season, Kent scored eight goals. In the 2020–21 season, he scored thirteen goals and provided fourteen assists, both domestically and in Europe, as the Light Blues easily won their 55th league title. Kent was undoubtedly one of their best players.
| Ryan Kent’s Rangers statistics | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44 | 3 |
| 2021/22 | 46 | 3 |
| 2020/21 | 52 | 13 |
| 2019/20 | 34 | 8 |
| 2018/19 | 43 | 6 |
| Via Transfermarkt | ||
The former Liverpool starlet failed to find his scoring form during the next two seasons, scoring just six goals in 90 appearances, and the Gers only managed to win one trophy in that time: the 2022 Scottish Cup.
Although they did make it to the Europa League final that year, Kent never seemed to recover from missing a fantastic opportunity to win the game in extra time, based on his performances this season.
In fact, as the Light Blues struggled under both Van Bronckhorst and Beale, he only ranked sixth in the squad for goals and assists (11) in the top tier last season. He also ranked sixth for shots on target per game (0.7) and fourth for significant opportunities created (nine).
The 5′ 7″ winger was previously referred to as a “wizard” by Leon Balogun, a former colleague at Ibrox, but the latter few months of the previous campaign demonstrated that he was obviously seeking a move away.
Kent’s market value peaked at €11.7 million (£10 million) during his penultimate spell at Ibrox, according to Football Transfers. Given that he was almost out of contract, the club would have considered cashing in at that point.
Rather than paying a transfer fee to the club, Beale allowed the player to finish out his contract, and the player left Scotland after five years.
The market value of Ryan Kent in 2024
After just a few weeks of leaving Scotland, Kent was able to sign with Turkish team Fenerbahce in the summer of last year.
The player made an odd move by moving closer to home, even though he could have stayed in Britain. However, things quickly went wrong after the relocation, with the player’s narrative of unpaid earnings making things worse.
Since then, he has only made 16 club appearances, scoring one goal. It appeared in January that he was leaving the team after failing to make an impression in Turkey.
He’s with Fenerbahçe till the end of the season at least, but Gerrard was apparently anxious to move him to Saudi Arabia. Hull City and Cardiff City were also interested in bringing the midfielder back to England.
Even though Kent hasn’t had a significant impact on the Turkish team when he has played, his market value is at €9.6 million (£8 million) according to Football Transfers, down from a peak of €12.2 million (£10.4 million) when he initially joined the team.
Even though the 27-year-old may have lost patience with Beale during a subpar second half of the 2022–2023 season, the current Sunderland manager made a mistake by allowing him to depart for free, especially considering that he could have brought in a sizable transfer fee.
Now that Beale is no longer in the picture, Clement needs to lock down his important players to long-term contracts since he will have learned from the mistakes made by the previous Gers manager.
Without a doubt, Kent is a fantastic player on his day. However, he hasn’t demonstrated that in his post-Rangers tenure, and the longer he waits, the less chance he will have to establish himself in a major league.
The Belgian manager must decide who to give an extension to and who to let go of when the season ends because players like Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, and Ryan Jack have contracts that expire at the end of the current campaign.
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