The Whites held an interest in Kent before he made the move north of the border to Glasgow and tabled an offer to Rangers last summer.
The winger however remained at Ibrox and has 12 goals and 13 assist from 47 outings across all competitions so far this season, with his latest strike coming against Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Rangers snapped up Kent from Liverpool in the summer of 2019 and Hateley feels the winger is now coming to his own and repaying the Gers for trusting in his potential.
“The boy [Kent] has got so much talent, listen we paid £7m for the potential”, Hateley said on Ten10 Podcasts.
Hateley feels Kent will be valued £18m and £25m, and stressed he has no doubt at Leeds will come knocking at the door for him again in the summer, especially with impressive numbers backing him up.
“I would say between that is how I see him right now.
“But the question is how well Leeds have done this season, they will be knocking again in the summer without a shadow of doubt, especially with those [25 direct goal contributions].”
It remains to be seen whether Leeds will decide to pursue Kent’s signature again when the transfer window swings open in summer.
Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa and the club’s director of football Victor Orta are admirers of Kent.
