The Transfer market kicked into its usual unpredictable madness yesterday when Sunderland striker, Darren Bent handed in a transfer request in the wake of a mega offer from Aston Villa.
The struggling Midlands club are said to have tabled an offer of £18million, which could eventually rise to as much as £24million over time. Villa currently sit precariously above the relegation zone, with only five goals keeping them above Wolves in 18th position. Rather than hope that Gerard Houllier’s young team can play their way up the table, Villa owner Randy Lerner has clearly decided to hand the Frenchman the money to buy his way out of trouble and Houllier has identified Bent as the man to fire them up the table.
The £18million plus offer for England striker Bent is an immense display of support from the clubs American owner towards the man he appointed to replace Marin O’Neill in September. The bid for Bent comes just days after Villa completed the signing of Cameroon international midfielder Jean Makoun from Lyon for £6million. The club have also bid for Blackpool star Charlie Adam who is seen as an integral part of Blackpool’s impressive Premier League debut.
The clubs transfer activity will reduce some of the pressure on the shoulders of Gerard Houllier and sends a clear message to the Villa supporters that the club is backing their manager to turn things around. However, the spending spree is likely to raise the eyebrows of Martin O’Neill whose reason for leaving Villa on the eve of the season was thought to be a lack of financial backing in the transfer market. The offer could be seen as a change of heart from Lerner or an exuberant necessity given the clubs perilous league position.
Houllier has endured a nightmare start to his reign at Villa Park, seeing his team pick up just three wins in the 18 League games that he has been in control of and losing to arch rivals Birmingham City in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup. The poor form can be partly attributed to the fact that the team has been massively hampered by a succession of injuries and suspensions to a number of key players, most notably Emile Heskey and the club captain, Stiliyan Petrov. The former Liverpool manager has had no alternative but to field a raft of young and inexperienced players in the majority of games. Although the likes of Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfounseo and Barry Bannan appear to have bright futures ahead of them, Houllier will not have wanted to rely so heavily on them and fellow youth products as much as he has been forced to in recent months.
Even when his big names have been fit, the biggest problem for the Frenchman has been scoring goals, emphasised by the records of his three most senior strikers. Only Emile Heskey has been able to find the back of the nest in the Premier League this campaign, while England international Gabby Agbonlahor and John Carew have failed to score at all in league games. It is no wonder then that the Villains are willing to pay a premium price for one of the best goal scorers in the Premier League as they seek to remain a top flight team.
Darren Bent’s motives for wanting to leave Sunderland, who occupy 6th place in the league and are in with a very realistic chance of qualifying for European football next season, to join a relegation threatened Villa team are unclear. Inevitably the issue of money will be offered as a primary reason for the strikers desire to leave the Stadium of Light, but it is unlikely that Aston Villa are in a position to substantially increase Bent’s wages. Whatever the reasoning, it seems certain that Darren Bent’s 18 month spell in the North East is coming to an end and Sunderland will have little time to search for a replacement.
Elsewhere in the transfer market, Steven Pienaar appeared to move one step closer to the exit door at Goodison Park after Everton agreed a fee with Tottenham Hotspur. It is now down to the South African to decide whether his future lies with Spurs or Chelsea.