WHENEVER an established footballer is described as‘mercurial’ he tends to be a player blessed with incredible talent who can win his team a game all on his own and then next week hardly get a touch.

Managers put up with such hair-tearing inconsistency because they know that when their frustrating genius gets it right, nothing and nobody can stop him.

Now this is fine if said player has a couple of hundred games under their belt. They just about get away, to an extent, with their Jekyll and Hyde personality.

But for a kid yet to make it in the game but with a well-earned reputation for blowing hot and cold - and sometimes in the same match - it’s much more difficult for them to justify themselves.

And managers tend not to be so indulgent.

Which brings us to Ryan Kent who after this weekend could well become Rangers’ tenth signing of the season

The 21-year-old is a Liverpool player, a winger who oozes natural football ability and with a knack of running past opponents as if they were smoke.

And perhaps most important of all, he was offered a long-term contract by Jurgen Klopp because the Anfield boss believes this player still has a chance of making it at a club which this week spent £70m on a goalkeeper.

Only a few weeks ago, Kent turned in a superb individual display for the Champions League finalists in a friendly against Chester.

He scored an excellent goal, by all accounts, in a performance which had the Liverpool supporters bombard various message boards of talk about this winger being the next big thing.

So, in many ways it makes perfect sense for Gerrard, who obviously knows the player, to take him on loan. It is a risk but a cheap and worthwhile one.

The trick for the Rangers manager will be to get the best out of Kent. Many have tried before him. Even his fans in the game say is a player who can frustrate and thrill in equal measure.

Bristol City took him on loan last January and at the time he was heralded as that special player who could get them over the line in what was a surprise bid for promotion to the Premier League.

Kent played only 548 minutes for City, making six starts and four substitute appearances, and ended with two assists and no goals to his name.

It is galling that City were prepared to pay a fine to Liverpool, reportedly £300,000, a result of them not giving the player enough game-time. Kent didn’t feature at all on the last six games.

This is what Lee Johnson, the Bristol City manager, said about him.

“Ryan hasn’t done it to how we would have hoped in our team for whatever reason. He came into a club with big expectations and for whatever reason it hasn’t quite worked as we would have all hoped

“He came into a club with big expectations and for whatever reason it hasn’t quite worked as we would have all hoped.

“Ryan, let me tell you, is a great player. If you told me he was coming through our academy as a 20-year-old, I’d tell you he was going to be a £10m player in the next few years.”

A few phone calls yesterday told you the exact same thing. King has all the talent in the world but that is not enough.

Jim O’Brien, formerly of Celtic, played with Kent at Coventry City – where he enjoyed some good time.s.

He said: “Ryan is one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen. He can go past people as if they’re not there and I say to him ‘with my vision just imagine how good I’d be if I could do that.’

“If he gets his final ball right – which will definitely come because he’s at a good club here and he’s from Liverpool so he’s obviously had a good education – he can achieve anything he wants.”

Kent had a brief loan spell at the start of last season with Freiburg and made his debut against Bayern Munich.

That didn’t work out for him, although it was perhaps a lot to expect him to do well given his lack of senior football and the language barrier.

As Kent himself said: “I think in football terms last season wasn’t the best season for me, it was quite disappointing.

“In terms of game time I think I only started eight games last season, but I think it was a learning experience to be able to go to probably the second-best league in Europe in the Bundesliga, and making my debut against Bayern Munich.

“Then to be involved in a play-offs chance with Bristol City was a good opportunity as well, so I took many things away from last season and hopefully I can build on that again.”

Kent, if he joins, will be given an opportunity to express himself in the Premiership and there are plenty who believe in his potential to be an England player.

Gerrard clearly sees himself as a manager who can bring a shine to some faded gems of footballers.

Young Mr Kent could be his biggest challenge of them all. If he can get him right, the winger might just light up Ibrox.