THE mention was brief but the point needs addressed urgently at Ibrox. Giovanni van Bronckhorst does not, after all, need any more problems building up right now.
The form and contribution of Ryan Kent is an issue. It is one that only the man himself can solve, but one that his manager must help him find an answer to sooner rather than later.
A Premiership title is on the line and Rangers are running a multi-million pound risk at a time when Kent should be at the peak of his powers and valuable on the park and on the balance sheet.
On his day, there are few, if any actually, better in Scotland. Yet those occasions have become too sparse over the last two seasons in particular and Kent's regular spot in the side owes as much to the paucity of Van Bronckhorst's options as it does him actually meriting it.
Scott Wright cannot challenge for that wide left berth and Fashion Sakala isn't up to it either. Then there is Rabbi Matondo, a winger who has pace to trouble defenders but a style that suggests he just isn't going to be suited for Scottish football.
Kent has both speed of foot and of mind. He has the pace to burst beyond defences and the technical ability to weave his way through them and those traits - shown on the domestic and European stages over the last four seasons - ensure he stands out from the other options within Van Bronckhorst's ranks.
But that only serves to make his current form all the more frustrating, perhaps even unfathomable, as a player that Rangers rely on so much, and rightly so, finds himself operating below the bar that he has reached and that must be raised at Ibrox.
It was in relation to a question about Matondo that Van Bronckhorst brought Kent's name into the conversation before the international break as he assessed the uninspiring win over Dundee United that, thanks to events in Paisley the following day, ensured Rangers are just two points adrift in the title race ahead of their return to action at Tynecastle.
The Dutchman lamented the loss of Tom Lawrence through injury and then stated why Matondo wasn't deemed good enough to make the squad. In between, there was a reference to Kent and what he needs to start bringing to the team to justify his importance and his place.
"We have to have more players to be able to score," Van Bronckhorst said. "Ryan Kent is a player who is also very dangerous, but also needs to improve his scoring. He knows that he needs to improve that."
That has always been a notable failing of Kent. He spoke of adding 'numbers' - or goals and assists in old money - to his game a couple of seasons ago but questions over his end product and incisiveness in the final third remain.
His best campaign in season 2020/21 saw him finish with 13 goals and 15 assists from 52 appearances. His assists increased by four last term but he scored just three times and he has yet to find the target in ten appearances this time out.
Rangers have been in desperate need of contributions from the wide areas for some time now and the issues with Kent's return are symptomatic of a failing in the side, especially when compared to the returns posted by a handful of Celtic forwards in comparison.
Jota and Liel Abada recorded 13 and 15 goals respectively last term and posted assist numbers of 14 and 11. This term, they already have ten goals between them and they offer a cutting edge that Kent, and more widely Rangers as a team, just do not carry.
In his first three seasons at Parkhead, Scott Sinclair netted 25, 18 and 17 goals. In the latter two of those campaigns, James Forrest scored 18 and 16 times and contributed 20 and 23 assists.
Those are numbers that Kent, with a highest tally of 19 assists in the 2021/22 season, will do well to reach this time around as he continues to shoulder so much of the attacking burden in a side that have looked devoid of ideas for so much of the campaign.
In a matter of weeks, the 25-year-old is free to discuss a move away from Ibrox with interested suitors. If a deal is agreed in January, Rangers would then have to accept a cut-price fee for a player who wanted to leave or hold onto him, with all the associated risks, and see him walk out the door for nothing come the summer.
Van Bronckhorst was optimistic about the prospects of Kent and Alfredo Morelos committing their futures earlier in the campaign but nothing has been signed and no announcements made as the narrative has focused on a campaign of several setbacks, one which could yet run away from Rangers in the coming months.
In purely financial terms, Rangers need Kent to sign on again. The fact that he has been allowed to enter the final year of his deal is bad enough, but if he was to actually leave on a Bosman it would be a scandalously bad bit of business overseen by Van Bronckhorst, Ross Wilson and the board.
There is, despite Kent's current struggles, sound sporting sense in convincing the Englishman that he is in the right place at the right time and that Rangers can match his ambitions for the next stage of a career that has stalled somewhat in recent times.
He is no longer a raw talent and cannot be considered a project player. There should be improvement to come over the following seasons and Kent himself must decide if he can be the best that he can be by remaining at Ibrox and signing over the next few years to Rangers.
He is a player who can dazzle on occasion but one who regularly frustrates supporters. And those feelings must surely extend to a manager who knows what he can do and needs him to perform more often.
Rangers are short of game-changers and match-winners and Kent can tick both boxes. First, he must dot the i's and cross the t's.
