Steven Gerrard addressed Leeds United’s transfer interest in Ryan Kent on Friday morning [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard], but although he claimed that Rangers don’t want to sell the player, his conflicting comments could cause concern for supporters.
The Sun reported on Wednesday that Leeds had offered £10 million for the winger and Gerrard confirmed that the newly-promoted Premier League side had had a recent bid rejected.
The manager said the offer was nowhere near acceptable, yet, he failed to unequivocally rule out Kent departing.
“Yes, we have had contact from Leeds and an opening bid has been really strongly rejected,” said Gerrard, as captured by Clyde 1 Superscoreboard. “They are way way off with the opening bid, that is the truth and the reality.”
“He’s a player that’s not for sale, we don’t want to lose Ryan. He’s a big part of what we’ve been trying to build here.
“We want him to stay here for many many years but you know and I know that Premier League clubs hold a lot of power and that’s the reality, that’s the way it is and we have to accept that.
“But the message to Leeds is that the opening bid is nowhere near the valuation and the player doesn’t really have one as we don’t want to sell.”
Gerrard makes conflicting comments about Kent amid Leeds interest in Rangers star – Verdict
Had Gerrard just said that a bid had been rejected and that Rangers had no intention of selling Kent, the matter would be as good as closed for supporters.
Yet, his lengthy and conflicting answer to the question about Leeds’ interest was more confusing than anything else.
The manager described Kent as ‘not for sale’ but also referred to the Whites’ offer as an ‘opening’ bid, leaving the door open for further discussions between the clubs.
If the player isn’t for sale, then why start talking about how Rangers need to accept that Premier League clubs wield a lot of power?
Reading between the lines, his ‘message’ to Leeds isn’t so much ‘you’re wasting your time’ but instead more like ‘try again with something a lot bigger and we’ll see’.
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