Aston Villa has completed the £18million transfer of Sunderland striker Darren Bent.
The 26 year-old has signed a four and a half year deal with the club from the Midlands. The deal seems strange to me on a few levels.
Massive
Bent told the clubs official website: “Aston Villa is a massive club and as soon as I knew they were interested in signing me I wanted to join.
The size of the football club and the history of the club are major reasons for me coming here.
“There are some top, top players here too, real quality, and I’ve been able to speak to the manager and the chairman about their ambitions for the club, so I’m very excited about being a part of what we hope to achieve.”
History
So Bent claims he is joining a massive club. I don’t know if he’s looked at the Premier League table recently but Villa are dangerously closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League spots.
They have been a top team in recent years under Martin O’Neill but under Gerard Houllier this season have struggled. It’s going to take a while for Villa to return to being a top six team. However I can’t see them returning to that regular top six spot in the near future.
Gamble
Sunderland however is a club on the up and are sixth in the Premier League table. Season by season they have been improving and their owner Ellis Short is very ambitious. Selling their star striker and main goal source is a major gamble by the North East side.
Darren Bent has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season and seem to struggle for goals without the England striker. Mackems boss Steve Bruce must have reluctantly agreed to sell the striker because I can’t see the Sunderland board going above his head.
They may have made a profit on the striker but they will now have to do without him. One upside for Bruce and Sunderland is the fact that they Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan, who is a very able replacement.
Money
Another thing that surprised me about the deal was that Villa actually had £18million to spend. In the summer American owner Randy Lerner refused to give Martin O’Neill financial backing to strengthen his squad. O’Neill subsequently quite his position as boss.
I’m sure O’Neill would have welcomed £18million to spend on a striker and I’m sure they would be in a better position today. I can only assume the money that Houllier has spent on Bent must be part of the money received for the summer sale of midfielder James Milner to Manchester City.
And if rumours are to be believed the club could be about to part company with winger Stewart Downing, who has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool. Villa doesn’t exactly strike me as a megarich club.
Mistake
I believe that Darren Bent has made a huge mistake by leaving Sunderland. He was very much loved on Wearside and enjoyed hero status amongst the Sunderland fans. The grass isn’t always greener and a move to Aston Villa isn’t exactly a step up and could maybe even a step down currently.
Darren Bent tried to step up to a bigger club when he moved to Tottenham from Charlton. And he struggled to get regular first team football at Spurs; a move to Sunderland re-ignited his career. He owed Sunderland a lot and he has paid them back by stabbing them in the back.
Was Darren Bent right to move to Aston Villa?
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