Edwards again! Liverpool to net sell-on windfall thanks to Leeds interest

Liverpool will net a sell-on windfall if Ryan Kent leaves Rangers.

When the winger was sold to Steven Gerrard’s side last summer, the Standard reported that sporting director Michael Edwards had inserted a craft clause into the deal.

Edwards insisted, and got, a 20% sell-on clause. They wanted this in the transfer because of Ryan Kent’s age and the belief that he would flourish under Gerrard and leave Rangers for a profit.

That bit of foresight might play out lovely.

Leeds United were in the for the English youngster at the time, but he chose to make his loan deal in Glasgow permanent.

However, their promotion to the Premier League may have changed things.

The Daily Record has written a story about their interest in Kent, but they are only prepared to offer around £10 million. Leeds haven’t made it official, said the article, but if they return with a bid of that size or higher it’ll be payday for Liverpool.

We’ve seen the transfer side of the club box very clever over recent years and this is another example of that. As well as extracting good fees for fringe players like Jordan Ibe, Dominic Solanke and Danny Ward, Edwards has been able to future-proof against development by footballers that have been moved on.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed an electric start to his 2020/2021 and already has two goals in four games, which brings his tally up to 16 and 13 assists in 80 appearances for Rangers.

He’s proved himself to be one of the better Scottish Premier League forwards around and has a good record north of the border. 15 goals and 6 assists in 48 SPL games means he has a direct involvement in nearly 50% of matches he plays.

With Transfermarkt only valuing Kent at £3.15 million, he’s an important member of Gerrard’s squad and the Ibrox side are going to want to turn a significant profit on the former Liverpool man before they let him leave.

Could we see Kent move for north of £10? It would be a nice little bonus into the transfer kitty, especially during tough COVID-19 times.