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£24m Bent Deal is Warped
Published by Ian John on January 20, 2011
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I like Darren Bent. I think he is a very nice man indeed, I like the fact he uses Twitter to communicate his feelings and he seems to be a genuinely affable young man. He is also a talented Premier League striker with a decent goalscoring record. There’s nothing to dislike about Bent at all, not even in the slightest and I don’t blame him for the fact that he is now the second most expensive signing in the current transfer window, behind Manchester City’s new striker Edin Dzeko.
What I do question is the sanity of Randy Lerner and Gerard Houllier in spending what is supposed to around £19m, rising to £24m if certain conditions of the deal are met, on the former Sunderland striker.
It is a gamble of monumental proportions, warped beyond all recognition and in no way commensurate with the talents that Bent offers as a player. No doubt some Villa fans will disagree, feeling that if Bent can score the goals that the club has so sorely lacked this season, that remaining in the Premiership will be worth more than the Bent deal alone. But in purely football transfer terms, it is an enormous gamble and a somewhat rash one.
Houllier, of course, has previous when it comes to splashing out big money on forwards that do not quite work out. Liverpool fans still shudder when they think of the collective £40m the club wasted on El Hadji Diouf, Djibril Cisse and Emile Heskey. Bent represents an even bigger gamble for the Frenchman and the stakes are much higher. Villa’s Premier League survival is on the line.
Full marks to Villa chairman Randy Lerner for funding the deal and Sunderland’s bleats about Bent wanting to move hold little water. It is merely a face-saving exercise for the Black Cats fans to find someone else to direct their anger at. However, the the real winner is Bent, a huge new signing on fee, a massively increased pay deal and at 27 years of age, he is set up for life.
Now all he has to do is find the goals to secure Villa’s Premier League status and facilitate a move up the Premier League. No pressure then.
As I said, Bent is a talented player and he will score goals for Villa, but Houlliers team are a pale imitation of the Villa side that were so rampant under Martin O’Neill. Milner and Barry have gone to Manchester City and not been effectively replaced. Gabriel Agbonlahor, always hot and cold at the best of times, has been positively freezing this season. The team seems in disarray, Steven Ireland looks set to leave after barely six months at the club. Richard Dunne looks set to join him, so does Stephen Warnock and any number of fringe players, including John Carew, Steve Sidwell and Curtis Davies. The problems run deeper than just finding a new striker.
Brad Friedel is 40, is Brad Guzan his long term replacement? WHo will replace Warnock at left back? Who will partner Bent in attack? Houllier is yet to answer these crucial questions that will go an equally long way towards deciding if the club stay up in 2011.
Still, the Frenchman got what he wanted and he knows the game. Villa have more than enough talent to get them out of the mess they find themselves in at present. Bent should get the goals they need to move up the table, but it is a monumental gamble and indicative of the crazy world of football at the top level.
I wonder what Ian Holloway has made of it all?
I hope Villa do well, I genuinely like Bent and Houllier, but it is an awful risk and one that has a chance of backfiring on both the individuals involved and the team.
Time will tell.
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Naheem Charania on Thu, 20th Jan 2011 11:12 pm
O’Neill to make a sensational comeback to Villa, Houllier to replace the Undertaker at West Ham, who in-turn heads into a ‘Director’ role at Chelsea.
Too bad about the Villa implosion. I still stand firm on the thought that if Sid Sidwell was given consistent playing time, he could change that team. There’s probably a greater chance of Cantona going to the MLS. Oh wait…
Bent’s worth it. He’s world class and can strike with the best of them.