Championship challengers Derby County will let Darren Bent leave on loan so could Aston Villa be tempted to welcome him back?
You never know what to believe in the January transfer window. But there are two things we are certain of.
Number one, Aston Villa want a striker. And, number two, Steve Bruce will be restricted to sifting through the loan market with Financial Fair Play getting in the way of Villa’s hopes of pulling off any permanent deals this month.
So with reports in The Chronicle stating that Darren Bent is available for loan from Derby County this month, this has inevitably got Aston Villa fans talking. And it seems that many would be open to the idea of the one-time England international making a shock return to the Midlands this month.
It is seven years now since Villa paid Sunderland a fee rising to £24 million for the arch-poacher. But Bent would still do a job in claret and blue now, if he can find full fitness again after spending most of the first half of the season out injured.
Bent may not be a £24 million centre-forward these days but he showed last season that he has still got it. After all, 10 goals in 22 starts for Derby is a wholly respectable tally.
And his trademark tap-ins and clever movement could make a major impact in a Villa side whose lack of a reliable centre-forward risks costing them a play-off place.
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