Glasgow Rangers faced a major rebuilding job during last summer as Michael Beale allowed several first-team players to depart following the expiration of their contracts.
Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent, and Filip Helander were notified that they would not be receiving extensions and that they were free to leave once the 2022/23 campaign ended.
McGregor, Arfield and Helander were all on the wrong side of 30 and, for obvious reasons, Beale clearly felt he had to go in a new direction heading into the new season.
With regard to Kent and Morelos, losing them for nothing represented poor business. The duo had emerged as crowd favourites over the years, dazzling in spells and helping the Ibrox side win their first Premiership crown in ten years during the 2020/21 campaign.
Morelos cost just £1m in 2017 and he more than repaid this fee over the years, scoring 124 goals in 269 appearances for the Gers while becoming their record scorer in European competition and, at his best, he was unstoppable.
While Kent was also unplayable at times due to his wizardry on the left wing, there was perhaps a feeling that he underachieved at Rangers, especially considering how much they paid to sign him.
How much Rangers paid to sign Ryan Kent
Following a productive loan spell at Ibrox during Steven Gerrard’s first season in charge, where he scored six goals and grabbed nine assists, the former Anfield captain used his connections at the club and relationship with Jürgen Klopp to seal a permanent deal for the winger.
Season
Games
Goals
Assists
2022/23
44
3
10
2021/22
49
3
19
2020/21
52
13
14
2019/20
34
6
4
2018/19
43
6
9
Via Transfermarkt
Indeed, the Englishman was announced on September 3rd 2019 as the Light Blues' latest signing, costing the club around £7.5m, their highest fee since promotion back to the Premiership in 2016.
Ryan Kent’s statistics at Rangers
The winger registered 12 goal contributions – eight goals and four assists – which, given the financial output in order to secure his services, these stats were hardly earth-shattering.
He more than made up for this during the following campaign, as the Gers improved month after month and powered away from Celtic to seal a record 55th league title and, at times, Kent was sensational.
Not only did he score 13 goals in all competitions, but the former Liverpool starlet grabbed a further 14 assists as he became a key member of Gerrard’s starting XI.
Kent ranked second among the squad for goals and assists in the top flight that season (19), along with ranking second for shots on target per game (0.9), third for big chances created (nine) and key passes per game (1.8), clearly proving how effective he was in the final third.
This should have been the platform for which Kent to further improve and lead the club to more glory during 2021/22, but it didn’t go as well as anticipated.
The Ibrox side did win the Scottish Cup and reached the Europa League final, with Kent providing two assists against Borussia Dortmund in the playoff round, but he failed to replicate his displays from the season before.
He only scored three times that season and the 2022/23 campaign (his last at Rangers) proved to be even leaner, with the 27-year-old scoring three goals and grabbing just ten assists.
Previously hailed as a “wizard” by former teammate Leon Balogun, Kent was anything but last year and he left with his tail between his legs at the end of the season for pastures new.
Ryan Kent's record since leaving Rangers
It did not take long for the player to find a new club, signing a deal at Turkish side Fenerbahçe last summer ahead of the 2023/24 season.
It was perhaps a surprising move for the winger, yet it gave him a chance to forget about the disappointing campaign he had to endure, and it was a fresh start on the continent.
He scored on his debut for the club in the qualifiers for the Europa Conference League, and it looked as though things could work out well in Turkey, but it proved to be a false dawn for Kent.
At the time of writing, the 27-year-old has failed to add another goal to his name, while chipping in with just two assists, and he has found himself frozen out of the team.
The move has clearly turned sour, with thoughts now turning to his future as he faces an important summer ahead.
Not only that, but the winger is also earning more than James Tavernier for a fraction of the attacking output the Rangers captain is displaying every week.
Ryan Kent's salary compared to Rangers squad
The former Rangers dynamo is currently earning £54.7k-per-week at the Turkish club. Considering how little impact he has had at Fenerbahçe, these wages are extravagant, to say the least.
To put that into perspective, Tavernier currently earns £30k-per-week. This is not to be sniffed at, and it makes him the second-highest earner at the club, yet it is nearly half of the wage Kent is taking home every week.
This season alone, the right-back has scored 21 goals and registered ten assists across all competitions for the Light Blues, meaning he has contributed over ten times the number of goals and assists as Kent has this term.
While the club perhaps should have secured Kent on a new contract in order to gain a fee for him considering he was keen on leaving, there is no doubt his departure came at precisely the right time.
As mentioned, on his day, the former Anfield gem was a wizard on the left wing, beating opponents with ease and having a keen eye for goal.
During his final few months at Rangers, however, his performance levels dipped rapidly and the supporters no longer saw the winger who had sparkled during his initial few years in Glasgow.
Whatever happens next, Kent must sign for a team in the summer where he can get regular game time, otherwise, his once prodigious talent will disappear, and he may have to move down a few levels in order to build his reputation back up.