Who is Ryan Kent after Liverpool winger emerges as Leeds United transfer target

Read the full story HERE, as United chase Kent's signature this summer - and check out our profile below.

Name: Ryan Kent

Age: 22

Nationality: England

Previous clubs: Coventry City (loan), Barnsley (loan), SC Freiburg (loan), Bristol City (loan), Rangers (loan)

Current club: Liverpool

Position: Midfield

Who is Ryan Kent?

Ryan Kent is a winger who currently plays for Liverpool, having joined the Reds academy aged just 7.

After making his way through the ranks he was included in the club's pre-season tour at the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign.

Kent was handed his first-team debut against Australian A-League side Brisbane Roar, but was sent out on loan to Coventry City for the campaign.

He spent the first four months of the season on loan with the Sky Blues before being recalled by new manager Jurgen Klopp after impressing for City.

The German handed Kent his first competitive start for Liverpool upon his return, which came in the third round of the FA Cup in a 2-2 draw with Exeter City.

Kent spent the following season on loan at Barnsley where he was named the club's Young Player of the Year. Loans to SC Frieberg and Bristol City followed, but were less successful for the now 22-year-old.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard took him north of the border to Scotland last season with Rangers, where he won the Premiership's Young Player of the Year award and was named in the PFA's team of the season during a strong campaign where he scored six goals and bagged four assists.

What have key figures said?

Jurgen Klopp (January 2019)

“Ryan was sitting here in my office and asked me, ‘Let me go to Freiburg please, let me go to Freiburg please’. I know German football, I know the manager of Freiburg and I knew it is not Disneyland there!

"They train a lot, it is a very special club that I like a lot. He went there and it didn’t work out for him.

“Now he is at Glasgow Rangers and that works really well because Ryan is a fantastic football player and still very young.

“The world we create these boys puts pressure on them earlier and earlier and earlier and earlier. As long as we stay patient and cool and relaxed about their situation and can still wait for development, everything is fine for them.

“They can go somewhere, they can succeed there, they can fail there, they come back and we judge the situation new and we will stay by their side and try to make the best for them.

"Maybe not all of them will have a career here (at Liverpool), now or in the future, but then they need to have the best career they can have at another club because of the education they got from Liverpool.”

Steven Gerrard (May 2019)

"Ryan knows we want him back but we have to be respectful that the kid has a big decision to make.

"I'm sure there are clubs queuing up for him because he's a top player.

"He has to think, 'Where am I going to be happy playing football? Who do I want to share a dressing room with? Who's going to help me enjoy my football?'

"Now my advice is, 'Go where you think you'll be happy, improve and take your career to the next level. Go find your football happiness because that's where you'll find your best form'.

"We hope that will be Rangers but Ryan has to make the decision for himself and not really listen to what others are saying."