Exclusive: Leeds pull plug on winger pursuit

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Published on:

22 Jun 2019, 3:30 am

EXCLUSIVE By Wayne Veysey

Leeds United have pulled the plug on their pursuit of Liverpool winger Ryan Kent after their offer for him was knocked back, Football Insider understands.

Football Insider exclusively revealed two weeks ago that the Yorkshire giants had made moves to sign attacking pair Kent and his fellow Anfield winger Wilson, both 22, on loan next season.

A Leeds source has told Football Insider that the club accept they are not going to be able to entice Kent as he wants either a permanent move or a loan back to Rangers.

Kent is said to privately accept he is unlikely to be able to force his way into Jurgen Klopp's ultra-competitive senior squad ahead of the new season.

The wide man made a big impact at Rangers last campaign in what was comfortably the most impressive of his five spells out on loan from the Merseyside giants.

He directly contributed to 15 goals in his 43 appearances and was named the Scottish Young Player of the Year, with the highlight a man-of-the-match performance for 10-man Gers in a 2-1 defeat at Celtic.

Liverpool value Kent at between £10-12million, a price that is way beyond Leeds as well as Rangers, and it may be some time before his future is sorted this summer.

It means Marcelo Bielsa will have to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements this window as he looks to recruit multiple attackers to fill the wide positions in his side.

Leeds are working on a deal to re-sign Manchester City winger Jack Harrison on loan and Football Insider exclusively broke the news two weeks ago that United have set their sights on signing Wolves winger Helder Costa on a year-long deal.

In other Leeds United news, Football Insider can exclusively REVEAL that Tottenham have made a new and improved bid for Jack Clarke.

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