Stay at Ibrox, sign new deal & prove you’re better than these guys
Contract extention would help Kent focus on success for Gers
apart away from home in the Europa League, top clubs would have sat up and taken notice.
When you think of Rangers’ top five players, or assets, Kent is one of them.
For van Bronckhorst’s team to be at their best, they probably need their three key players to be playing well.
James Tavernier is one, Alfredo Morelos is one – and Kent is the other.
And if he can get back to his best at Rangers in the next few years, a big move will come.
He has seen it happening with a few of his mates like Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Nathan Patterson.
It’s in his hands. If Kent is happy to stay at Rangers, I think the club will happily re-sign him.
When it comes to assists, his numbers are good. He got 19 last season, which is terrific, and is already at three this term.
Top-level teams are wary of Kent, we’ve seen that in Europe recently.
Is he capable of scoring the amount of goals that Jota and Abada get for Celtic? They’ve already got four and six respectively. That’s more than Kent got in the whole of last season.
So, until this point, you’d have to say no. But it’s down to him.
Against Hibs at Easter Road this season, he showed incredible wing play to get in the box and it was all there for him to shoot and score.
But he took an extra touch to try to go past another man – and the opportunity was gone.
That’s what he has to improve on. This season, I’ve noticed that he IS trying to get in the box more and get on the end of things.
But to score goals you need to have instinct. And it’s about gambling. Kent has to do that more.
Celtic’s wide players are trained to make diagonal movements into the box, just like Abada did in the Old Firm game a few weeks ago.
Rangers’ structure is different. But Kent can still do more to anticipate chances in the box.
It might not happen for him nine times out of 10. But that one time could win you a game. And it’s something that Gio and his coaching staff can work on. It will be something that’s been discussed in training.
It ’ s a frustration because when it comes to talent and technique, he’s better than Abada, James For rest or Daizen Maeda at Celtic.
And he’s certainly on a par with Jota in terms of ability. But those players look hungrier to score goals. It’s a non-negotiable that they attack the box.
Rangers and Kent aren’t doing that right now. But that doesn’t mean you let a £7m signing walk out the door.
When he’s on his game, Kent can be frightening. He’s direct, has pace, can chop on to either foot and fool his markers.
He’s electrifying when he’s in full flow.
It’s up to him now to produce – and getting his future sorted will help him do it.