If Leeds United sign ex-Rangers star, 23-year-old should leave Elland Road: View | OneFootball

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Leeds United are looking into bringing in Fenerbahçe winger Ryan Kent in January.

This comes from TEAMtalk, who have said that, despite only making the move to the Turkish club in the summer, he could be on his way back to the U.K. after struggling in the opening parts of the season.

Leeds will face competition though. Premier League side AFC Bournemouth are also said to be interested in the former Rangers winger, who are also monitoring the situation.

The giants of Turkish football would be open to a loan move, and Kent would only add to the depth of Leeds' wide attack.

Adding Kent to that mix would make the competition for the two available spots even more congested. What it should also do, if the move were to materialise, is open the door for Ian Poveda to make a permanent move away from Elland Road.

Ian Poveda should leave Leeds if Ryan Kent move happens

This is the first season that Poveda has played for his parent club since their return season to the Premier League (2020/21 campaign).

In their return, he played in 14 matches, none of which were starts, and he didn't record a single goal contribution.

In the seasons between then and now, he was loaned out to two of the Championship's Lancashire-based sides: Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool.

Those moves proved to have similar themes to his time with Leeds; no consistency in performance or minutes.

He went to Blackburn first, for the 22/23 campaign, where he only made 10 league appearances.

The following season with the Tangerines came with more success- two goals and an assist in 24 games- but, again, he didn't look like a player who had come down from a Premier League club.

The 23-year-old went through various youth academies before arriving at Leeds.

There are some prestigious names on that list; Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea. He's clearly got talent, he's just not shown it.

Even if Kent doesn't arrive at Elland Road in the new year, his contract with the club expires at the end of this season and there's a strong argument that he'll be moving on anyway. The 27-year-old's potential signing should make that reality even clearer to Poveda.

The loan spells that he has had, and his extremely limited use by manager Daniel Farke, have probably shown that the Championship is not for him. It could be an issue of physicality, or lack there of, but he just hasn't shone in the English second tier.

Having said that, going all the way down to League One just doesn't seem right either.

At 23, this is a pivotal point in his career. Going down to the third tier of English football would feel like a move that would limit his ability to get back to the top level of the sport.

Some of the European leagues may favour him best.