Alex McLeish has given his reaction to the news that Steven Gerrard would fight harder to keep Ryan Kent over any other player at Glasgow Rangers.

The Lowdown: Gerrard on Kent

As per The Athletic, the manager would fight harder to keep the 24-year-old over any of his other players at Ibrox as the summer transfer window edges closer to an end.

According to a report from Football Insider back in September 2020, the winger has a release clause of £20m in his current contract with the reigning Premiership champions, and that clause remains given that he has not signed any kind of new deal.

There will surely be interest from a number of clubs in his signature come the end of the window, as Leeds United registered theirs last summer.

The Latest: McLeish on Kent

Speaking to Football Insider in the wake of The Athletic's report, former Light Blues manager McLeish claims that his old club cannot afford to lose Kent in this window, as he would be a very difficult player to replace. The 62-year-old said:

“I don’t think so, in the current climate.

“Replacing him would be extremely difficult. Unless Gerrard’s looking at experimenting or thought of something else where he could play a different system.

“Something to keep the domination of Rangers upon other teams when they play against them.

“He is a kind of game-changer. That would be a big blow for Rangers and the fans if they were to lose him at this moment.”

The Verdict: Keep

Kent has proven on a number of occasions just how important he is to Rangers, and it certainly speaks volumes that Gerrard would fight harder to keep him over any other player.

The Englishman scored 13 goals and supplied a further 15 assists in 52 games in all competitions across the 2020/21 season (Transfermarkt), which is a highly impressive return.

At 24 years of age, he certainly still has potential to improve even further, and he could be a vital member of the squad for years to come. As McLeish says, losing him in the final days of the transfer window would be a seismic blow to the Gers.

In other news, find out whose performance against Alashkert was criticised by some Gers fans