A massive shock has been revealed in the last hour that Villa have made what would be record signing, £18m move for Sunderland striker Darren Bent. According to reports the former Tottenham and Charlton forward has handed in a transfer request after hearing of Villa’s interest and Steve Bruce’s club have accepted the offer after resigning to losing their star marksman. The news broke today that an initial bid of £18m has been agreed which could potentially rise to £24m, doubling Villa’s record fee on a single player. All I can say is WOW! We have money? This sort of thing is exactly what Villa fans have been waiting to see after rumours of a cooling of transfer funds were suggested after Martin O’Neill’s departure last year. £24m is way over the odds in my opinion and whether it would be a good move in the long run is debatable but Villa have been without a goalscorer for too long and this is really exciting! It seemed that manger Houllier was playing down the need for a striker in the transfer window, seemingly looking to sure up the club’s defensive record rather than boosting their dismal attacking stats. Bent is a player with genuine goalscoring ability and would surely cement the club’s Premier League status were he to join. I have to say fair play to Houllier and indeed Randy Lerner, who have both been criticised for showing a lack of real ambition to promote the club from their usual 6th placed finish but the signing of Jean Makoun and recent massive bid for Bent suggest otherwise. Fantastic news in my opinion, which is severely needed after a desperately poor season thus far. UTV!!!
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