Former Rangers star is becoming a fan favorite for Seattle Sounders | OneFootball

Now several games into his stretch with the Seattle Sounders, why haven't most Sounders fan heard of him before, and where did he come from? Why did he sign with the Sounders after not playing for such a long stretch?

Ryan Kent started his career in the Liverpool academy and was loaned out to several teams after his first appearance for Liverpool in January. After that, he was loaned out to a series of teams including Coventry City, Barnsley, Freiburg, and Bristol City and Rangers.

Former Rangers star is becoming a fan favorite for Seattle Sounders

It wasn't until he signed with the Scottish club, Rangers, where he started to attract international interests. According to Sounders' coach Craig Waibel, the club started tracking him at that time, much like they track many players.

While on loan to Rangers he scored 6 goals in 27 appearances in the 2018-2019 season. After signing with them, he scored 22 goals in 113 appearances from 2019-2023. The Rangers won the Scottish League Championship with Kent in the 2020-2021 season and were runners-up in his other seasons with them as well as runners-up in the Europa League title in 2021-2022 season.

After his success with Rangers, he signed with Fenerbahce in the Turkish league. According to the Scottish Sun, once there, he quickly fell out of favor with the coach, Ismail Kartal, and his replacement, Jose Mourinho. Kent was sent to train by himself, which FIFA doesn't approve of according to MailOnline, as several teams made offers. Kent wasn't happy with any of those options for undisclosed reasons until his contract was terminated by Fenerbahce in what they called a mutual agreement.

As he pondered his future, Seattle came calling and was eventually successful at signing him. His past issues may have made him a bargain for Seattle, but his talent will most assuredly make him an impactful player in the MLS.

Kent has praised the Sounders and his fresh start as he has pointed out that he likes that there aren't any big egos on the team. As he gains more playing time, he will make a bigger impact on the team. He has the technical skill of a player like Albert Rusnak, the ability to take on opponents which is unlike anyone currently on the team, and he has speed that is comparable to Jordan Morris. Once match fit, it is likely he will become a fan favorite.

His timing fits the clubs progress. With an unbeaten streak of 4 games, Kent's contributions have been growing and he has shown moments of brilliance as their offense is picking up steam that can allow the team to ascend the standings in the final two thirds of the season assuming Jordan Morris will be out for a significant about of time. He claims that in his first couple weeks of training it was as if he "was playing with two right feet." Now things are clicking for him and the attack as a whole.