Ryan Kent: Liverpool rule out loan for Rangers target

Rangers will have to spend big money to get Ryan Kent back at Ibrox

Ryan Kent will only return to Rangers this summer if the Ibrox club can buy him, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.

The winger, 22, spent last season at Ibrox and Steven Gerrard has been hopeful of getting him back on loan.

However, Kent will reportedly cost £8m to buy and Klopp says the Anfield club will only consider a permanent deal.

"His time is over for loans," Klopp said after his side's pre-season defeat by Napoli at Murrayfield.

"At the age he is now, he needs to find a place where he can settle. We will see what happens but a loan is not planned."

Kent - who missed the friendly in Edinburgh with a virus - made 43 appearances for Rangers last season, scoring six goals, and was voted PFA Scotland young player of the year.

Klopp said the move to Scotland "helped a lot" and was ideal for the Englishman at the time.

"He came back as a completely different player and it was a very important year for him," he said.

"It helped being with a good manager, at a good club, with good competition, and it was exactly the right thing for him at the right moment."