RENTON — It has been a rough few years for Ryan Kent.
Coming off a knee injury that cut short his 2022-23 campaign, he managed to make what seemed like an upward move from Rangers to Fenerbahçe, a team that regularly competes in UEFA Champions League. But he never quite saw eye-to-eye with management and barely played in the second half of 2023-24.
Jose Mourinho was then hired as the new coach and things didn’t get any better the following season. He ended up making just one appearance that year before “mutually parting ways” with the Turkish club last October and has been out of contract ever since.
Although several teams made him offers, it wasn’t until the Seattle Sounders made contact that any of them felt right.
Meeting the press for the first time since his signing was announced, Kent seemed happy to finally be training with his new teammates after being forced to work out on his own for the past eight months or so.
“More than anything, I’m just trying to find the enjoyment in the game,” Kent said. “With what went on at the previous club, after speaking with the guys, it was like a breath of fresh air. Across the board, they were passionate people, passionate about what they do. Coming here and allowing me to express myself with the players, it was a big factor in coming here.”
Kent admitted that the last several months almost felt like an “alien environment” after a virtual lifetime of having a tightly regimented schedule. But he also tried to make the most of it.
“It was a difficult transition in a way,” he said. “But it was good for my body, good for the little niggles that I’ve had. I was able to dial into the individual side of being an athlete. I was able to concentrate on areas that I needed to concentrate on. I enjoyed the work.”
That work apparently showed in Kent’s fitness.
While he’s unlikely to make his debut any time in the next couple of weeks, that’s more a result of the work visa process that could take anywhere from a week to a month to complete. Sounders officials seemed pleasantly surprised with the shape Kent showed up in.
“Fitness isn’t going to be an issue,” Sounders GM Craig Waibel said. “He’s a real pro. He showed up and his testing was better than some of the guys who are four-months fit.”
Once Kent does get on the field, there’s at least potential for him to be a real difference-maker.
Kent describes himself as an “exciting player who likes to get bums off of seats” and his highlight reel backs that up. During his time in Scotland, Kent was one of the Premiership’s best dribblers, capable of scoring with both feet and a top playmaker.
As recently as a couple of years ago, it would have likely required a Designated Player spot to get Kent to even consider a move to MLS.
Instead, the Sounders were able to fit Kent into the salary-cap space they opened up when Paul Arriola was placed on the season-ending injury list. (Notably, the Sounders were constrained exactly by that space, as Kent’s salary this year needed to be covered by ownership’s discretionary spending and couldn’t bleed into other parts of the salary budget.)
“Once we started talking to Ryan, his level of interest in MLS right now and the timing of his career was perfect,” Waibel said. “It’s fortuitous for us to be in a position to bring him in and for him to want to come at a time when he’s 28 years old.
“To be able to attract a player who enjoys attacking defenders, that enjoys going at them, that enjoys cutting inside and shooting, who has no fear in going outside and cutting the ball back, those are qualities that almost any team would want to add. It’s a profile that we don’t necessarily possess, at a level of experience that we absolutely don’t possess.”
