POWER OF SCOTLAND
Euro stars Lundstram and Kent have got their stalling careers back on track at Rangers after Mersey misery
IT has been a long, hard journey since leaving Liverpool and Everton, but brothers in arms Ryan Kent and John Lundstram are hoping for Europa League glory on Wednesday night.
Winger Kent, who quit Anfield, and midfielder Lundstram – released by Everton – have been instrumental in Rangers reaching their first continental final since 2008.
Fans’ favourite Lundstram even has his own Ibrox song specially adapted to the huge 80s chart-topper by Belinda Carlisle, ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’, while Kent is attracting the interest of Premier League sides, including Everton and Leeds United.
While he was at Everton, Lundstram spent time with Doncaster, Yeovil, Leyton Orient, Blackpool and Scunthorpe before permanent moves to Oxford United and Sheffield United.
Kent was farmed out to Coventry, Barnsley, SC Freiburg, Bristol City and Rangers, who 12 months later turned it into a £7million transfer.
Lundstram hardly set the Rangers fans’ pulses racing following last summer’s arrival after allowing his contract to run out at Bramall Lane.
It appeared that Giovanni van Bronckhorst did not share the same belief in him that his Rangers managerial predecessor Steven Gerrard (right) had in bringing Lundstram north of the border.
In fact, his one-time Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder believed he had a decent chance of adding the 28-yearold to his Middlesbrough squad during the January transfer window.
“He’s old school, a throw back to Bryan Robson,” Wilder enthuses. “He can pass it, he can head it, he can tackle, he can get into the box to score. He can do everything.
“He wouldn’t have been short of offers if Rangers had decided to let him go.”
They did not and Lundstram has gone from strength to strength, culminating in the goal against RB Leipzig that sent Rangers through to a final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
He admitted: “We have a great bunch of lads with plenty of leaders in the dressing room. I’ve fallen in love with the place. I couldn’t be happier.”
Kent has also discovered his footballing heaven again after failing to make the breakthrough at Liverpool despite impressing Jurgen Klopp after spending a season on loan with Rangers. Just before the start of the 2019-20 season, the Kop boss said about Kent: “He is a wonderful kid, a wonderful player.”
A few weeks later the two clubs agreed a permanent deal.
Gerrard, who persuaded Kent to move to Glasgow, said: “You see the tattoos, the hair, the confident air, but he’s a really nice guy. I like players to back themselves. I like swagger in the right way.” Gerrard will be hoping both players deliver in Seville – and Kent cannot wait.
“From being a little kid I’ve always dreamed of playing in the big games,” he explained.
“I’m more at home in the important European games – that’s where I take off.
“You’ve got to have the right mentality. At Rangers the pressure is non-stop but we have proved that we can handle it.”