Newcastle Confirm Interest In Darren Bent

Newcastle’s Alan Pardew has revealed his interest in signing Aston Villa striker Darren Bent, who has reportedly fallen out of favour. Pardew looks to make Bent his season’s first signing.

Darren Bent has struggled for regular football last season and is currently keen on moving away from the Villa Park. The Magpies have been strongly linked with the 29-year-old in the recent weeks.


It has been reported that Villa boss Paul Lambert is prepared to offload Bent for a fee in the range of £5 million. Bent’s high wage demand, currently £65,000 per week, is also understood to be the cause of Lambert’s willingness to release the player.


It was earlier reported that Aston Villa and Sunderland were also monitoring the striker but they were not ready to meet the high asking price for him. London clubs West Ham and Fulham as well as Hull City are the other clubs interested in the player.


Newcastle will hope to convince Aston Villa to reduce the asking price for the striker, who has lost his place to Christian Benteke. Alan Pardew in his statement admitted the club’s pursuit of Bent:


“It's difficult. I know there's been speculation, particularly about Darren Bent. I think I can comment on that because it sounds like at Aston Villa, he's not particularly involved.”