Leeds have just been handed a major boost in pursuit of ‘unbelievable’ £18m forward – TBR View

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Leeds United have been eyeing Rangers star Ryan Kent for a long time now.

The Whites were eyeing the 24-year-old last summer in wake of their Premier League promotion.

However, Kent stayed put and helped the Gers finally overcome their Glasgow rivals to the title.

Leeds have been linked with the £18million-rated forward this summer as well.

The Daily Star claimed back in May that the Elland Road outfit was still eyeing Kent.

Earlier this month, The Athletic’s Phil Hay said: “Don’t discount Ryan Kent at Rangers either. That interest goes back a long way.”

And on Tuesday, there was a development which could’ve strengthened Leeds’ hand.

Rangers were in Champions League qualifying action against Malmo, and fell to a 4-2 aggregate defeat.

As well as the blow of missing out on Europe’s premier club competition, they’ve missed out on a huge payday.

Can Leeds land Rangers star?

Two Rangers-leaning pundits suggested their former club could be forced to sell players after the game.

Charlie Adam told BBC Sport (21:56): “Will Rangers have to sell players now? It’s a huge blow for everybody.”

Richard Foster’s take was more ominous.

“This is going to have huge financial implications for Rangers,” he said (22:05).

“They need to sell players. Losing their biggest assets will weaken them dramatically.”

The Athletic have also claimed that Rangers could be forced to sell one or two of their stars.

“Rangers forecast that they will lose £14.4million this season and, given Europa League group stage football is used as the base expectation in which to budget on, missing out on the competition that would have alleviated some of that deficit means the numbers do not add up unless Rangers cash in on one, possibly two, of their high-value players,” they wrote on Wednesday.

Leeds could well look to turn the screw over the coming weeks and see if they can convince Kent’s club to sell him before deadline day.

They’d be getting one of the best players in Scottish football, who Kris Boyd has previously deemed “unbelievable” and “exceptional”.

And following a top-half Premier League finish, the Whites would have a player who could help them progress further up the table.