TBR View – The 20% clause that could prevent Leeds United from securing Ryan Kent

Add as preferred source on Google

Ryan Kent has long been linked with a potential move to Leeds United and that has again been the case this summer. 

As reported by the BBC, Leeds had a £10 million bid for Kent rejected earlier this summer whilst a further £14 million move for the Rangers winger was also mooted by the Scottish Sun. 

It comes after Leeds tried to sign Kent last summer before he made a loan move to Ibrox permanent from boyhood club Liverpool. 

Rangers are clearly not willing to sell Kent. They invested heavily in him last summer, paying a reported (The Scottish Sun) £7.5 million overall to get the deal done. 

But that is not all that Rangers had to do to ensure they got the man. In fact, an extra factor to that deal last summer will explain why Leeds would have to pay over the odds to get their man. 

As reported by the Liverpool Echo, the Anfield club negotiated a 20 percent sell-on clause into the deal. 

For example, if Leeds were to have managed to secure Kent’s services for £14 million, £2.8 million of that fee would have ended up on Merseyside. Rangers would be left with just £11.2 million. 

With that in mind, Rangers are always going to overprice the winger, to make up the difference in paying back Liverpool. Say they managed to secure a £20 million fee, they would then be able to cash in £16 million and perhaps justify the sale more. 

Leeds, therefore, face an uphill battle, and with Kent not exactly pushing for a move, it seems right to move on to other targets. 

It appears they have, with Udinese playmaker Rodrigo De Paul now in their sights. 

Kent, meanwhile, will remain a Rangers player until someone pays the club a deal worth taking a 20 percent chunk from.