Jurgen Klopp told Rangers to flash the cash or forget about bringing Ryan Kent to Ibrox.
The Liverpool boss ended any hope of Steven Gerrard luring the 22-year-old back to Glasgow on a loan deal and insists he’ll only do business if the Light Blues break the bank to buy the winger on a permanent basis.
In a blunt dismissal of Gerrard’s aim to get the player back north following a successful spell last season, the German was adamant he’s only interested in selling Kent if he isn’t going to keep him at Anfeld beyond this summer.
A virus kept the youngster out of the Reds squad which was beaten 3-0 in yesterday’s glamour friendly against Napoli at Murrayfield and Klopp admitted the player’s apprenticeship with Rangers won’t be extended having impressed in Liverpool’s last three pre-season games against Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Sporting Lisbon.
He said: “His time is over I think for giving him on loan. At an age like this, players need to find a place where they can settle. That’s probably the situation at the moment, but we will see. A loan is no, only if Rangers can buy him.”
Gerrard had claimed he was pulling out the stops to try and make Kent a key part of the squad for this campaign as Rangers look to wrestle the title from Celtic but will now need to find in excess of £8million if that’s to happen.
Klopp admits Kent’s time at Ibrox has served to transform a talent into one he highly values.
He said: “It helped a lot. He came back and he was a completely different player. When he left, it was a very important year and it helped. Good manager, really good club and good competition so for him it was exactly the right thing at the right moment.”
