Darren Bent Bio Send To Friend  

Darren Bent escaped his Tottenham nightmare when signing for Sunderland in August 2007 for an initial fee of £10m.

The England international had failed to impress in his two seasons at White Hart Lane, and after Harry Redknapp took over in October 2008 it soon became clear he would be surplus to requirements. At one stage Redknapp claimed his grandmother could have scored a chance which Bent missed.

A product of the Ipswich's youth system, Bent broke into the first team in the 2001-02 Premier League season and made his debut in the club's UEFA Cup campaign, coming off the bench for the final 17 minutes of the 3-1 victory at Helsingborg in the Second Round in November.

After being used sparingly that term he became a regular in the side back in the First Division in 2002-03. Bent bagged 18 goals in all competitions despite only turning 19 in February that season.

His stock continued to grow, and another 16 goals in the 2003-04 season - despite missing more than a month through injury - had the Premiership scouts at Portman Road.

Bent enjoyed a prolific 2004-05 season notching 20 goals for Ipswich. But despite looking certainties for automatic promotion they tailed off towards the end of the season and lost out in the play-off semi-finals to West Ham United for the second consecutive season.

With just one-year left on his contract it signalled the end of Bent's stay Ipswich after 141 appearances and 55 goals. Charlton came in to sign the striker for a fee of £2.5m.

Although Charlton struggled during his time at The Valley, he still bagged 32 goals in Premier League 68 starts for a team which was evventually relegated in 2007.

He then joined Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £16.5m. It proved to be a frustrating first season as he found first team opportunities hard to come by. And he would eventually spend just two seasons at the Lane, which will be remembered more for his misses than his goals. He still scored 12 Premier League goals in 2008-09, and a total of 18 over the two seasons.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce was delighted to land a player who, while much-maligned, has a superb scoring record in the top flight.