Hull to battle Newcastle for Bent

Hull City are planning to hijack Newcastle United’s bid to sign Darren Bent, the Mirror understands.

The Tigers are looking to add more firepower to their squad after winning promotion back to the Premier League, and have made the Aston Villa striker their number one target.

Manager Steve Bruce knows only too well Bent’s ability having secured the England international’s services back in 2009 whilst at Sunderland.

Villa are willing to cut their losses on the man they paid £24million for two and a half years ago, with the club looking to receive just a quarter of that price to get him off their books, though that figure is still considered too high by Newcastle, who have a policy of only buying players they can sell at a profit.

The 29 year old, who has also played for Ipswich Town, Charltion Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur made just sixteen league appearances last season, with half of those coming as a substitute.