Michael Beale admits Ryan Kent contract talks will take place with Rangers in international break
Michael Beale has revealed that Rangers will sit down with Ryan Kent and discuss extending his contract at Ibrox in the upcoming international break.
The Gers winger is out of contract at the end of the season and is free to discuss pre-contract deals ahead of a potential summer transfer.
Football Insider reported (10 February) that Burnley manager Vincent Kompany is an “admirer of Kent” and is keen on taking him to Turf Moor but that contract talks with Rangers remain the best offer on the table.
However, speaking in his press conference on Friday (10 March), Beale revealed that conversations had been held between the two parties but no specific contract had been lodged yet – with an eye to opening discussions further in the International break.
He said: “We’ve had discussions around it and we’ve both parked everything until we find a moment, so the next moment will be the international break when we sit and have another chat.
“We’re both on the same page and I think it’s right after the amount of years he’s been here, and his third manager here as well, that he takes the time to consider his options and it’s the same time we do as well.
“We’ve not put anything in front of him. We’ve just had conversations. At this moment in time, I think that’s the best place to be.”
Tick-tock
The longer the contract talks with Kent remain unsolved, the more worried Rangers fans will become about a Premier League club swooping in and offering the winger a wage package he can’t turn down.
Even when the Gers were labouring their way through the latter stages of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s regime at Ibrox, Kent was the stand-out player on the left wing.
So far this season, the attacker has recorded three goals and nine assists from 26 appearances and is quite possibly the most reliable source of creativity in the Rangers side right now. At 26 years old, Kent is still yet to reach the prime of his career and looks to plenty more room for improvement in the tank.
With Alfredo Morelos, Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and, Scott Arfield also possibly expected to call it time on their careers at Ibrox, a summer of upheaval awaits for Beale. One player he will be determined to keep, however, is Kent.
In other Rangers news, more issues could emerge in the Ibrox boardroom over a cash injection.