Aston Villa stunned Sunderland by swooping for Bent during the
January transfer window, paying an intial £18million for the
striker's services.
The move was dwarfed on transfer deadline day with Chelsea
signing Torres for £50m and Liverpool splashing out £35m on
Carroll.
And McAllister believes the size of those fees proves Villa were
spot on with the amount they paid for prolific marksman Bent.
Gerard Houllier's assistant said: "Maybe five or six years ago
you would have called us all crazy if we were bandying these
numbers about.
"But that is the going rate and market forces dictate the
price.
"We did our business nice and early in the window and, when you
see the prices and transfers at the back end of the transfer
window, it looks like a good buy.
"He is proven in the Premier League, he has been in and around
it a long time and he is a natural goalscorer."
McAllister played with and against some of the game's best
finishers during his career and believes Bent has the same
predatory instincts in front of goal.
He added: "You go back to Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and Gary
Lineker and the guys I played with for Scotland, Ally McCoist, Mo
Johnston and Brian McClair.
"I don't think you can coach that goalscoring art into someone.
It is a natural instinct, knowing where to go and arriving at the
right time.
"I saw Owen's goal for Manchester United against Southampton in
the FA Cup last weekend and would anyone else have scored that? It
is instinct. I don't think you can coach it.
"Sometimes you think, 'How did he wander into such a free space
and the ball just arrives?'.
"It is a sixth sense, it is a definite skill. Darren has
that."