It may be extremely early in the youngster’s Ibrox career, but is Ryan Kent one of Rangers’ best pieces of business?
The on-loan Liverpool winger made his debut for the club away to NK Osijek in the huge 1-0 Europa League victory on Thursday night, and made a startling impression. Kent’s directness and ability to dazzle with his quick feet gave Rangers supporters something to genuinely be excited about.
Kent made a habit of always making himself available down the left-flank, before constantly taking his man on. He also came close to opening the scoring with a deflected effort early on in the first half due to his sheer desire to run at the opposition.
Many Rangers and Celtic fans will laugh at the comparison, but you can’t help but feel Kent could become Rangers’ Patrick Roberts-type signing. It may be too early to hang your hat on, but there are similarities in the fact that both are young prospects coming from big clubs down south. Whilst Roberts was a huge hit at Celtic, it looks as though Kent could have a similar impact at Rangers should he not suffer from inconsistency.
Roberts added a different dimension to Celtic with his skill and low centre of gravity. However, whilst Kent doesn’t look the same kind of winger and has different attributes, he looks to have the ability to cause many Scottish Premiership full-backs problems this season.
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In the past few years, Rangers haven’t particularly lacked heart or desire down the flanks, but they have lacked a cutting edge. Murphy and Candeias were an improvement on previous years, but similar performances to last night would have Kent as an upgrade on both.
It remains to be seen how Gerrard uses Murphy and Kent, considering both are preferred left-wingers. However, for the time being, Rangers supporters have a genuine reason to be excited about what the on-loan Liverpool man can bring to Steven Gerrard’s side.