Leeds United may need to rethink their recruitment strategy this summer depending on their fate in the Premier League relegation battle.
What's the latest on Leeds' interest in Ryan Kent?
According to TEAMtalk, Leeds are one of the clubs interested in signing Rangers winger Ryan Kent this summer.
As per the report, the Whites will need to compete with Everton, Burnley, Bournemouth and Sheffield United to secure the signature of the player who was a top transfer target for Marcelo Bielsa when he was at the club.
Would Ryan Kent be a good signing for Leeds?
In terms of Leeds' struggles this season, the attacking third has not been their biggest problem with a number of talents in the forward line including Rodrigo, Wilfried Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra.
In fact, only Leicester City has scored more Premier League goals (49) than Leeds United (47) in the entire bottom half of the table this season.
However, an opportunity to bolster their attacking depth and improve creativity in the wider positions should not be missed, especially considering the number of injuries the club has suffered this season.
All the aforementioned attackers have endured spells on the sideline with fitness issues alongside centre-forward Patrick Bamford, so Andrea Radrizzani could bring in a prolific and versatile player like Kent on a free transfer to give the west Yorkshire squad a huge boost, whether they retain their Premier League status or not.
The £18k-per-week Rangers winger – hailed "top class" by Steven Gerrard – has scored three goals and registered ten assists over 44 appearances in all competitions this season, which is more goal contributions than Bamford (10), Sinisterra (7), Gnonto (8) and Crysencio Summerville (6).
Kent is a huge presence on the pitch with a high work rate and a strong ability to win possession of the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch, which, if applied at Elland Road, could see Gnonto further pushed out of contention to start in the side.
The Italian, despite his exciting potential, has bizarrely been in and out of the side of late, having started just three of the last 11 fixtures.
When comparing the positional peers' output over this season in their respective leagues, Kent has comfortably outperformed the Leeds youngster in a number of attributes including three key areas for a winger; pass accuracy (89.14% v 76.39%), crossing accuracy (26.87 v 18.42%) and take-on success (46.28% v 33.87%) as per Squawka Comparison Matrix.
With that being said, it may be bad news for the Leeds winger if the club can complete the signing of Kent this summer, with a more experienced and proven asset potentially arriving through the door.