Sunderland played a blinder with Bent

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman backed former supervisor Alex Neil in the summertime switch window by bringing in a number of recent recruits to bolster the squad.

The likes of Jack Clarke, Ellis Simms, Daniel Ballard, and Aji Alese, amongst others, got here in and the Black Cats chief has made some glorious signings throughout his time on the membership.

He introduced in Ross Stewart, Alex Pritchard and Dennis Cirkin, simply to call just a few, for Lee Johnson final season and so they all performed key roles in main the staff to play-off glory in League One.

Nonetheless, it’s unlikely that each signing will probably be a hit and Sunderland have had their fair proportion of sensible signings and large flops over time.

One participant the membership struck gold with was the signing of Darren Bent from fellow Premier League facet Tottenham in the summertime of 2009.

Has Speakman accomplished a great job at Sunderland?

Then-manager Steve Bruce heaped reward on the Englishman on the time of the club-record £10m signing, saying: “He’s every little thing I need – good issues come to those that wait.

“He’s one thing totally different – he’s bought tempo, energy, he’s younger, he’s English and he will get objectives.”

There was additional reward when placing him within the dialog for an England spot, with Bruce labelling his work price as “absolutely unbelievable.”

Bent had scored 12 objectives in 33 Premier League outings for Tottenham in 2008/09 and the now West Brom boss noticed sufficient to persuade him that he was value a club-record charge for Sunderland, which turned out to be a unbelievable name by the English supervisor.

The striker hit prime type on Wearside as he plundered an excellent 24 objectives in 38 top-flight outings, while additionally offering four assists for his teammates – scoring 25 in all competitions.

He then loved a superb first half of the 2010/11 season as he discovered the again of the web 11 occasions in 23 video games in all competitions – together with eight in 20 within the league.

This led to curiosity from Aston Villa and he ultimately accomplished a £24m transfer to Villa Park in January 2011, which meant that Sunderland made a 140% revenue on the £10m ahead and loved 36 objectives from him on the pitch in round a season-and-a-half on the Stadium of Gentle.

Bruce did admit that he felt let down by the participant pushing for a switch away from the membership however the cash concerned and the standard he did present throughout his time with the Black Cats nonetheless makes him a profitable signing ultimately, with the supervisor enjoying a blinder by snapping him up in 2009.