Another story about a striker who might have done but didn't. Three years ago today Darren Bent joined us on a season-long loan deal from Aston Villa. please log in to view this image "The deal to bring Bent, 29, to Craven Cottage was struck after late interest in a similar agreement from Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway. The striker worked with Martin Jol at Tottenham, who brought him to White Hart Lane from Charlton Athletic, while he later hit 36 goals in 63 games in a prolific spell at Sunderland. "Darren Bent is a striker I have always admired," Jol said. "He has shown in the Barclays Premier League that he is composed and clinical in front of goal but, even if he is not scoring, he is involved in some good link-up play, creating opportunities for his team-mates. "I'm delighted that he has joined us - he gives us pace up front and I am confident that he will add to our goals scored tally this season." [My emphasis] Villa have spent most of the transfer window trying to secure a permanent £6 million sale of Bent, with Palace, Newcastle and Fulham all mooted as possible destinations. But it later became clear that a move to Craven Cottage on a loan deal would be the likeliest option. Sources have told ESPN that Fulham have agreed to pay a loan fee in the region of £2m as well as contributing the majority of Bent's £65,000-a-week Villa's wages." That's a lot of dosh for an iffy player (by then) and who had been exiled from training with the Villa first-team squad when he returned for pre-season.
As I recall, we enquired about taking Lukaku on loan and were told that Chelsea weren't loaning him out. By the time they made him available, we had signed Bent and Jol, not unreasonably, concluded that it wasn't fair on the players to sign both of them. The big what-might-have-been here is what might have happened if we'd signed Lukaku instead. That season he scored 15 goals in 31 league games for Everton.
