Everton
manager David Moyes could make a move for out of favour Tottenham
Hotspur striker Darren Bent in the summer if the Toffees fail to
land loan-signing Jo from Manchester
City on a permanent deal.
25-year-old Bent, who is also a target for North East rivals
Newcastle
United and Sunderland, has
fallen down the pecking order at White Hart Lane since the return
to Spurs of strikers Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe, with the 2006
£16.5million signing from Charlton
Athletic, widely tipped to leave the North London club in the
summer.
Moyes is believed to have identified Bent as a possible
target for the Merseyside club, should Everton fail to lure
Brazilian International Jo away from the Eastlands to Goodison Park
on a permanent deal, but could be put off by the £9million
valuation of Bent by Tottenham.
Sunderland have also been linked with Bent, with the Black Cats
like Everton also seeing Bent as plan B, should they fail to make
their loan-signing from Marseille, Djibril Cisse a permanent
fixture at the Stadium of Light at the end of the season.
Sunderland’s local rivals Newcastle also said to be tracking
England International Bent, with a massive shake-up of the playing
staff expected at St James’ Park in the summer.
Whether Bent leaves Spurs for Newcastle, Sunderland or Everton
remains to be seen, but the strikers days at Tottenham must surely
be numbered after Harry Redknapp publicly slated Bent for missing a
sitter against Portsmouth recently and is understood to have
concerns about the strikers ability to perform in the Premier
League consistently.