Spurs in the driving seat to snatch £17m-rated Bentley
Tottenham have stepped up their attempt to sign David Bentley from Blackburn after banking £20m from the sale of Robbie Keane.
Talks have resumed between the two clubs about England midfielder Bentley, who has made no secret of his desire to leave Blackburn for a bigger club.
However, Spurs are not thought to have yet agreed a fee for the 23-yearold former Arsenal trainee, who Rovers value at around £17m.
Tottenham have fresh funds at their disposal, after reluctantly letting striker Keane join Liverpool in a deal worth up to £20.3m.
A wide midfielder is a priority for Spurs manager Juande Ramos, and Bentley is on a list that is also understood to include Sevilla’s Diego Capel.
Bentley told the club at the end of last season that he had decided to leave for a team playing in the Champions League. Spurs are not in Europe’s top competition, but Bentley appears to believe he has a better chance of realising that dream at White Hart Lane than Ewood Park.
A striker is also on Tottenham’s shopping list, with Real Zaragoza’s Diego Milito and Russian pair Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin heavily linked. Darren Bent staked his claim for a more regular starting spot with four goals in Monday’s friendly win at Norwich, and assistant manager Gus Poyet has challenged the £16.5m signing to capitalise on Keane’s departure.
“Darren Bent has been fantastic throughout pre-season,” said Poyet. “He’s trained really hard and has probably been the pick of the strikers so far.
“He was one of the strikers last season but didn’t have too many chances because Robbie and Berba (Dimitar Berbatov) were on fire. Now he has taken the chance so maybe we will see Darren Bent every week.