Aston Villa News 24/7
OK, I’m kidding, it’s pretty far from a secret. In fact it’s everywhere and I must be the last person to find out. Ironically, I checked all the latest news just minutes before this one broke and then went off the grid. I came back and all hell is breaking loose!
This is a story that will evolve as the day goes on so I’ll continue to update this post as we learn more, but at the moment it would appear the rumours that emerged before the weekend of a statement of intent style bid being submitted for a big name, but unknown striker were absolutely on the money.
The bid appears to be £18m (possibly rising with add-ons) and the striker is Darren Bent. He has handed in a written transfer request which will leave Sunderland little option but to accept our bid, although it may well suit them in any case.
This is where the rumour mill kicks in; Bent may or may not be about to have a medical at Bodymoor, but clearly top gear has been engaged and something will happen sooner rather than later.
There is talk of the deal being partially financed by either or both of Stewart Downing and Ashley Young heading for the exit door, but it’s nothing more than that at this stage.
Inevitably, this also causes speculation about other players making moves as the money is injected into the market the chain of events reliant on one another will be sparked into action. Will Danny Wellbeck’s loan from Man Utd become permanent for instance? Well, that question has the Utd fans chattering.
Incidentally, the Blues have coincidentally just announced that they have ended their interest in Robbie Keane.
The January transfer market touch paper looks to have been ignited in some fine style.
More to follow later, but I’ve updated the Aston Twitter page to monitor the relevant chatter on Twitter for your amusement. And mine actually.
Some Links
After submitting a transfer request two hours after the end of yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light, Bent is waiting for the green light to travel to the West Midlands. Louise Taylor, The Guardian
“The club can confirm that it received a written transfer from Darren Bent following yesterday’s Wear-Tyne derby match.” Club officials would not comment further on the striker’s future. The Telegraph
Bruce is understood to have been shocked both by the transfer request and the amount Villa were prepared to pay, and was taking time out to reflect – and walk his dogs on the beach – before releasing an official comment on the situation. Harry Harris, ESPN Soccernet
It is for those reasons, and not his enviable statistics, that at first glance the £18 million that Villa are prepared to immediately part with seems high – fantastical even – in a market climate that priced Rafael van der Vaart at £8 million in the summer. But it is a calculated gamble by Aston Villa, if a high-stakes one. Tom Adams, ESPN Soccernet
Furthermore, it is understood that they would not even consider doing business for a man who cost them an initial £10million in August 2009 unless any offer significantly exceeded the £20million mark. Yahoo! Eurosport
You might also like...
17 Comments to “Psst, I’ve got a little secret: Aston Villa have submitted a huge bid for Darren Bent”
Leave a Reply
Absolutely fantastic! This move really signals Randy’s intent, and solves our major problem this season i.e. lacking a quality striker.
My team:
Big Brad
Walker/Cuellar/Collins/Clarke
Makoun/Petrov
Albrighton/Young/Downing
BENT
good team. if we could just find a LB of walker’s quality then we’d be cooking on gas.
I’ve banged the Darren Bent drum for years and to anyone who was bored enough to listen – pre-dating martin O’Neill’s blatant disregard of the forward.
Is he absolutely what Villa need? Yes.
Is he worth £18m plus add-ons? If he becomes the difference between mid table medoicrity and relagation then yes.
My biggest worry? Is that to balance the books or invoke a maekweight element to the deal that we sell a midfielder who will service Bent.
For once, I’m going to bask in the warm glow that is Aston Villa Football Club (a) being ‘the’ club associated with a ‘big money move’ and (b) that move including somebody who knows where th onion-bag is – nuff said.
indeed. if £18m is over priced (and i always say a player is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay) then it just serves to highlight the failure in not going after him when sunderland picked him up for £10m.
and it’s not that much more than spurs paid for him three and a half years ago.
I too fear the selling of other players to fit Bent’s cost into the books. You must keep Downing and Young et al until the relegation battle is won.
It does feel good to finally be one of the teams doing the big deals. Financially responsible? Who knows – only RL can make that decision, but I think he has run the numbers and knows exactly how much he would lose if Villa get relegated. In those terms a striker like Bent is likely the cheaper option, especially if you can sign him to a longer term contract that could realistically see Villa back up the table into the European slots again!
Bent is the one I dreamed of getting – can score under pressure, any time, not sure who in the EPL would be more of a scoring threat – more consistent and physical than a Rooney or Drogba or Berbatov, and more durable. This is good.
Maybe this is finally where the money received for Milner goes, in which case that looks like a great deal.
Good news. Thought I’d already posted but can’t see it.
At the moment I’d hope Young was the finance rather than Downing. We need fighters in our position.
I’d also rather it be Ashley than Downing but I think we need to hold on to both. If we lose Young, who plays the creative midfield / “hole striker” position? I doubt there is much left in the bank for a top-class attacking midfielder (but then again I didn’t even dare think we’d be so aggressive as to go after Bent).
I think it is important to keep in mind that we never did spend the Milner money, and so far the Makoun and (hopefully) impending Adam signings have been pretty good business imo.
How was it a secret?
I told you on your own blog the other day;
“Bent and Figueroa are the names that have been mentioned and I could live with that.”
Only joking, I don’t profess to be ITK, it was just what I’d been reading
I’m now reading £24 mill straight cash.
Clunk.
(Jaw dropping on the floor)
i know folk don’t read much beyond headlines, but c’mon, it was in the first sentence:
“OK, I’m kidding, it’s pretty far from a secret.”
I did read beyond the headline Dan and I was only playing you up mate
i know you know, but do you know i know you know?
MON is going to be crying. Randy is having a laugh. We were on the verge of breaking Europe and Randy closed the bank, now we are going to be relegated and we’re paying DOUBLE the ‘ridiculous money’ we paid for Milner for a BRITISH striker.
Why can’t we look abroad for some young French kids? Ho, Ho, Ho. No doubt other blogs will fail to see the irony and this development will be seen as further endorsement of the new regime.
if only MON had brought bent in from tottenham, how different things might have been.
ah, but we already had heskey by then.
so that’s OK then.
Sorry for the sarcasm.
I’m in agreement with others really. It is great news for Villa and I don’t give a toss about the money. It’s not mine.