Steven Gerrard has praised Rangers winger Ryan Kent ahead of Sunday’s Scottish Premiership clash against Motherwell, as quoted by the Scottish Herald.
Kent spent last season at Ibrox on loan from Liverpool, earning the adoration of the Ibrox faithful.
A reported £7.5m transfer fee [Sky Sports] saw him return to the club on deadline day on a four-year deal. However, a hamstring injury has restricted him to just three appearances since his return, one of which came against Porto in midweek.
Yet, he doesn’t think the 22-year-old’s big price tag will weigh him down going forward.
“He’s a confident boy,” Gerrard said, as quoted by the Scottish Herald. “You see the tattoos, you see the bowl. Ryan underneath it is just a nice guy. He’s a quiet kid, quite reserved. But he’s a great kid, loves a little bit of banter.
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“The transfer fee won’t be on his mind, won’t faze him. You saw it on Thursday night, that’s his stage.
“He’s not ready yet in terms of being 100 per cent match fit and firing and being totally sharp to where we’ve all seen him. But if he can perform to that level when still only 80 or 90 per cent sharp then I am really looking forward to seeing him over the next couple of years.
He went on to assert that self-belief is a big part of Kent’s game, saying he likes ‘swagger in the right way.”
Verdict
We’ve seen very little of Kent since his return to the club, but in the time that he’s spent on the field, his approach doesn’t seem to have changed.
Electric with the ball at his feet, the wide man is still keen to take people on and to look to make things happen.
He stood up in big games against Celtic last season and his deft flick on Thursday evening, played a big part in Rangers’ equaliser.
One area he needs to work on is consistency. Across 2018/19, he registered six goals and nine assists in 43 appearances [Transfermarkt]. Given his talent, he’s certainly capable of much more than that, and he’ll be hoping to produce on a weekly basis when he reaches full fitness.