With Darren Bent being out of favour with Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert deciding to rarely use the English forward there has been constant speculation that Bent will leave in the club this transfer window. Lambert’s decision to opt for Benteke has been rewarded by an impressive goal return from the Belgian. Fulham, it seems have been the most interested club looking at the striker as it was reported by Sky Sports that the London Club upped their bid for Bent.
It would seem that Bent isn’t in Lambert’s plans after he only managed eight league starts throughout the entire 2012/13 season. Thus the lack of action has also severely hampered his chances of an England call up. At the age of 29, this could be Bent’s last opportunity to play for England at the World Cup.
Fulham could be a really good opportunity for Bent as it would be unlikely that it would take long for him to settle in. Having been born and raised in London till he was 10 years old and playing for both London clubs Charlton and Tottenham would suggest that he would settle in to life in London well as he would be familiar with his surroundings.
At 29 years old, Bent would be able to still offer Fulham a great deal, especially in terms of scoring goals. Bent’s goal record has been impressive over the past few seasons. In 2009/10 season he managed 24 league goals for Sunderland, only behind Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney in the overall standings. The following season Bent made a move to Aston Villa worth around £18 million, and managed to score 17 league goals. In that season he managed to become the league’s fourth top scorer. Bent is obviously a good striker who scores goals and Fulham would definitely benefit with his acquisition.
However, much like Berbatov there have been criticisms to Bent’s game that he doesn’t do enough for the team, especially off the ball. This no doubt will have influenced Lambert when selecting his team as Beneteke is an extremely hard worker off the ball and can also bring in other players into play with his heading ability.
The signing of Bent could have a positive impact on Berbatov’s game. Whilst increasing the competition within the squad, which is always healthy, it will also be able to reduce the burden on Berbatov to score Fulham’s goals. Berbatov scored 15 league goals last season, the next highest team mates were Ruiz and Petric, both who scored 5. Thus highlighting Fulham’s dependency on the Bulgarian international.
Bent will definitely be a good signing for Fulham if they were to acquire him especially for the prices being quoted it would be quite good business by Fulham. Although there could be some concern over offering Bent a long term deal due to his age Bent does offer Premier League goals and that often comes with a price. Fulham also successfully completed the transfer of Dimitar Berbatov from Manchester United last season. He was 31 when signed by the London club and therefore could be considered at a age with little re-sale value, however many will also argue that Fulham could have quite possibly been relegated without Berbatov.
All signs suggest that Bent is a signing that Fulham could use to help them push on and begin to challenge for European places.
