Leeds United hold 'long-term' interest in Liverpool academy graduate

Leeds United are ‘long-term’ admirers of free agent winger Ryan Kent, as detailed in a report by The Scottish Sun. He has emerged on the radar of Leyton Orient in League One and some unnamed teams in Saudi Arabia following his recent departure from Fenerbahce.

The 27-year-old, who is a former England youth international, made the move to Turkey just over 12 months ago. However, he struggled to make an impact in Istanbul. The Leeds-linked man now has a big decision to make on where he wants to go next. The fact he is an unattached player means he can now join a new club outside of any transfer window.

Kent rose up through the academy at Liverpool and was a regular for the Premier League giants at various different youth levels. He went on to play once for their first-team.

The attacker was loaned out by the Reds to Coventry City, Barnsley, Freiburg, Bristol City and Rangers to get some game time under his belt. The latter then snapped him up permanently.

He was a hit during his time at Ibrox and went on to play 218 games altogether, finding the net on 33 occasions. Kent won the Scottish Premiership during his Glasgow days, as well as the Scottish Cup.

Their boss Philippe Clement has recently poured cold water on any rumours linking him with a return there and said: "I've said a lot of times I don't go into rumours because it never stops. So I'm not going to go into rumours but of course I know the player and I've known him a long time. The moment he went to Rangers I was in talks with him to get him to Brugge. But there was a better deal for him at Rangers and chose that. So I've known him a long time but I won't go into rumours about bringing in players or not.”

Leeds’ fellow Championship side Hull City have looked into a move for Kent in the past. He isn’t on their radar right now though and their owner Acun Ilicali said earlier this year, as per a report by HullLive: "Ryan Kent, at the moment, is not on our list. He's a very good player, but he's not in the mindset that we were expecting him to be.

“He has to plan his career more clearly. I would say that our aim is to sign players that are more determined and focused to join our club. If a player has big confusion in his mind then I wouldn't try to push him, we wouldn't push him. It's not a positive thing to force players. It's better for us to focus on players who want to come and play for Hull City in the Championship."

The door is open for Leeds and other clubs to swoop in for Kent now. It would be a big surprise to see him drop into the third tier though if Leyton Orient were to complete an eye-catching deal.