Darren Bent’s situation at Aston Villa is hard to understand. When he first arrived at the club for a fee that landed somewhere between £18-24m (depending on how many add-ons were triggered), he was slap-bang in the middle of a hot-scoring streak. That’s why he had a hefty price-tag and why Villa fans were so excited for his arrival.
And he didn’t disappoint. In his first season with the club he nabbed 9 goals in 16 appearances. Since then, however, all he’s offered has been diminishing returns. In 2011/12, he scored 10 goals in 25 games and last season he only managed 23 appearances and 6 goals.
This, is a massive step-down, considering the reputation that he has created over the years. The problem for Bent, is that his decline in form coincided with (or was triggered by) the arrival of Christian Benteke.
Unlike Bent, the big Belgium bruiser was in sparkling form throughout last season. Indeed, he scored almost four times the number of goals as the England centre-forward.
This wont have been lost on Bent. He’s now 29-years-old and will be aware that he only has a few years left at the top of his game. He wont want to spend them sitting on the bench watching some young buck eat away at his reputation.
Given Benteke’s form, it’s hard to blame Paul Lambert for not offering Bent more game time. Equally, however, it would be cruel for him to keep Bent at the club, if he’s not going to get a chance to re-build his career.
According to The Mirror, Newcastle United are keen on snapping up Villa’s forgotten forward, but aren’t willing to pay the £6m fee.
Of course, Newcastle have their own problems with centre-forwards. After all, Cisse has refused to wear a shirt which bears the logo of pay-day lenders and Newcastle sponsors, Wonga and this has cast his future into doubt.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Alan Pardew was on the hunt for another striker. I’d also hope that he’s willing to look closer to home than Ligue 1 this time round. Wouldn’t Darren Bent be the perfect fit?
Bent tends to struggle unless he’s the main-man at a club. He’d certainly have this status at St James Park. He’d also have fantastic players alongside him providing him with killer balls – players like Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa.
Given his former status and price-tags, £6m for Bent is a good price. Surely it’s worth considering?
What’s your take? Would you like to see Darren Bent move to Newcastle?
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It’s £8m and he’s off to Fullham or Crystal Palace.
Yesterdays man please god no….He is not kinnears man so thats that anyway,im sure joke in ere will soon bring in Robbie Earle and Hartson
if we are asked to try to match his £58k a week wages at Villa (putting him up there with Colloccini/Ben Arfa at NUFC) on top of an £8m fee that will certainly make the board back away.. but £6m – £8m is a relative bargain for Bent in my eyes.. proven goalscorer, still got decent pace and has a good allround skillset as a striker…
I’m sorry, I haven’t heard of Alan Brent.
Good stuff
As Astonmilan so correctly says, Villa are demanding £8m, so no, Newcastle wont be about to snap up a £6m bargain.
he is crap
Get a grip Gareth. The lad can’t play football but he can score goals. Only Rooney beats him in strike rate – and that is only just.
I can’t get a handle on the idea that £6 million is too much for guaranteed goals. He needs service from a good midfield – but this boy can score.
Opinions are all well and good – but next to cold hard facts they’re worthless.
Bent is a bargain at £10million – unless u happen to think that consistent premier league goals are easy to come by. Over to you Joe.
What is happening to the philosophy of grabbing players on the up?
Joek – Harvey Dent? From Batman?