Ryan Kent has joined the Seattle Sounders in the MLS after a difficult few years at Rangers and then Fenerbahce.
The former Liverpool winger, 28, really broke through at Rangers but tailed off at the end of his Ibrox career despite initially promising so much.
Scoring only six goals in two seasons before leaving on a free, Ryan Kent has been a shadow of the player who won Scotland’s Young Player of the Year in 2019 and broke ankles around Europe on the road to Seville in 2022.
Moving on a free to Fenerbahçe 18 months ago, Rangers having failed to move the winger on at his peak despite paying £7m for Kent’s services, those troubles continued into his time in Turkey.
After Kent’s contract was ‘mutually terminated’ with Fenerbahce in October, the ex-Rangers star has been linked to a number of clubs, including Iranian side Persepolis FC, who Kent reportedly considered due to his pet crocodiles.
Speaking in an interview after Kent signed a deal with Seattle, the winger has been discussing his decision to move to the USA.
Kent explains that at the very crux of it all, a lack of freedom in recent seasons meant he’d fallen out of love with the game.
Ryan Kent takes aim at former managers after ‘difficult few years’
Ryan Kent had been brought to Rangers under Steven Gerrard and indeed had his most profitable seasons under the Scouser in Glasgow.
Scoring 13 goals as an unbeaten Rangers romped to 55, Kent’s role in the Rangers team changed dramatically after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was appointed.
At the time, Van Bronckhorst was being hailed for bringing a more rigid formation to Ibrox which forced Kent into a more disciplined traditional left-winger role and after time the free-spirited attacker’s influence slowly begun to wane.
Gio wanted disciplined players who focused more on tactical contributions, something which eventually dimmed Kent’s star quality even if it did initially produce results in Europe.
Kent too had his role to play; speaking in October 2022 Van Bronckhorst claimed Kent ‘has to bring more’ with the ‘exceptional’ talent not reaching his full potential (Rangers Review).
It became increasingly clear that under Van Bronckhorst, and latterly under Michael Beale, it just wasn’t working for Kent at Rangers.
Similarly at Fenerbahce, Kent wasn’t given the free license he needs to be inspired and to make the sort of impact he’s capable of.
Struggling first to get game time under Ismail Kartal, Kent clashed with Jose Mourinho’s workmanlike tactics and the rest is history.
This culminated in Kent being traumatically released by Fenerbahce, a familiar story for a lot of British players who make the move to Turkey.
“I’ve had a couple of difficult years in my career, probably more than anything, trying to find enjoyment in the game,” Kent explained to the Seattle Sounders, who are managed by Brian Schmetzer.
”With what went on the previous club, after speaking to the guys here it was like a breath of fresh air with the people I was dealing with.
“To hear the coaches say that they’re looking for an exciting player, kind of made me excited in a way.
“You go to some places, and managers want to prevent you from doing what you want to do as a player. I’m an exciting player. I like to lift bums off seats, I like to dribble, create loads of chances.”
Ryan Kent turned down ‘a lot of teams’ to move to Seattle Sounders
Ryan Kent had been linked to a number of clubs after being released by Fenerbahce.
Philippe Clement even shut down Rangers links to Kent when the winger was touted as potentially being available to return to Ibrox.
The likes of newly promoted Premier League club Ipswich Town were also linked to Kent as the winger weighed up his options.
But Kent has explained that he ‘turned down a lot of teams’ who’d made enquiries and that his decision to join Seattle is down to the club’s positive and honest approach.
“I’ve turned down a lot of teams [but] ultimately, Seattle was the team for me,” said Kent.
“There’s a host of factors… I think more than anything, just the sort of honesty from the people I was speaking to and they’re really passionate about what they do.
“They have a good relationship with the players, [and] just from spending a short time here, in the dressing room, that’s a great bunch of guys.”
