Leeds are pushing on with plans to sign Liverpool forward Ryan Kent, according to Football Insider, but United Director of Football Victor Orta cannot risk repeating the scenes of Daniel James’ failed transfer from Swansea City.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is still hesitant to sanction a temporary move for Kent as it will be the sixth loan move of his career, and would rather sell the attacker if he is to leave Anfield this summer.
The German’s Merseyside outfit had been holding out for £7million for much of the window, which priced a permanent move to Ibrox out of the question, as the figure is too substantial for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers to meet.
Liverpool appear to have increased their asking price on the eve of Deadline Day, though, as it is now noted that the Reds are demanding £10million for Kent. But Leeds are in talks with the Champions League holders, as we are keen to secure the 22-year-old’s services following Kemar Roofe’s transfer to RSC Anderlecht.
United are allegedly hopeful of our chances of signing the 5 ft 7 ace, who scored and assisted six goals for Rangers during his loan spell in the Scottish Premiership last season, where he played across Gerrard’s front line.
Given Liverpool’s eight-figure asking price, Leeds’ transfer team are keen to reach an agreement where we will make an initial upfront payment of an undisclosed amount, while the remainder of the fee would be spread over variables that include promotion into the Premier League.
The deal sounds eerily similar to the agreement we thought we had reached with Swansea in January for James, only to have the Welshman at Elland Road taking pictures in our kit for the Liberty Stadium natives to pull the plug at the eleventh hour.
In the end, their decision paid dividends for them, as James joined Manchester United for £15million, whereas our agreement would have seen the Wales international join Marcelo Bielsa’s ranks for £10million, spread over an initial £1.5m, a further £7m agreed on the basis of promotion and £1.5m in add-ons.
If Bielsa wants Kent, then Orta cannot risk the deal collapsing, as missing out on James left us with a shortage of wingers which may have been what cost us promotion last season, and we are now without our 2018/19 top goalscorer in Roofe, too.