Sky Sports pundit claims Rangers could be forced to sell Kent to Leeds after recent news
Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker has warned Rangers fans that their club may be forced to sell Ryan Kent to make up for financial losses suffered due to empty stadiums.
Clubs in Scotland now face an even longer wait to have fans return to stadiums, with tougher restrictions placed on the country by Nicola Sturgeon, following a sharp rise in Coronavirus cases.
There are worries this could last for the next six months leading to a big loss of revenue.
Speaking in his Sky Sports column, Walker warned fans of all Scottish Premiership clubs that ‘no one should be surprised if any of our clubs resort to selling players to stem the tide’.
The former Celtic striker said, “Rangers’ Ryan Kent has been attracting interest from Premier League newcomers Leeds United.
“They’ve already had one bid knocked back, would anyone really be surprised if Rangers cashed in given the same scenario they are in with Celtic, namely, burning millions of pounds every month allied to a much-reduced income?
“If anything, Rangers’ need to generate serious money is greater than Celtic’s. It’s a fact that in the last set of accounts released by the Ibrox club, it told of a loss of over £11m in the last financial year despite generating £14m through their exciting Europa League run.”
With no timescale now in place for fans to return to stadiums in Scotland, clubs will be looking for ways to generate more money to avoid financial disaster. Unfortunately, selling players is the easiest way to do just that.
Rangers as a club and the fans will not want to lose Ryan Kent, who has started the season in fine form for the Gers.
The winger has registered four goals and three assists in his eight appearances in the league, helping Rangers to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
In recent days Football Insider have reported that Kent has a release clause of £20 million, and that Leeds United have had a bid rejected for the English winger.
The bid from Leeds was reportedly worth around £10 million including add-ons, which falls some way short of that release clause.
However, the loss of matchday revenue could have a very real knock-on effect for Rangers.
It’s a miserable state of affairs compounded by the return of fans to other leagues such as the Bundesliga.
However, Rangers could have access to around £18 million soon, should they accept Lille’s take-it-or-leave-it offer for Alfredo Morelos.
It seems highly unlikely that both would need to go.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox Exclusive: Alex McLeish delivers verdict on Morelos ‘conundrum’ ahead of Willem II clash.