Aston Villa Wrap Up Record £24m Deal For Darren Bent

Chris Wright

18th, January 2011

13 Comments

By Chris Wright

Aston Villa have announced that they have officially signed Darren Bent from Sunderland, shelling out an initial £18 million for the privilege – a fee that will rise to as high as £24 million should various contractual stipulations be met.

The sum eclipses Villa’s previous transfer record, which stood at the £12 million they paid for both James Milner and, latterly, Stewart Downing.

A brief statement posted on the Villa website confirmed that the deal was struck this afternoon, with a four-and-a-half-year contract eventually being agreed upon after Bent passed a routine medical.