Bent joy at Villa move (AUDIO)

Aston Villa’s new £18m man Darren Bent says he’s delighted to join the Midland club in the most surprising move of the transfer window so far.

With the England man seemingly happy in the North East, the speed at which the move went through caught many off their guard, whilst Sunderland and Villa are both enjoying contrasting fortunes in the Premier League this season.

Former Sunderland and Aston Villa striker Kevin Phillips, currently at Villa’s local rivals Birmingham City, had claimed Bent’s motives were purely financial, a notion strictly denied by Bent, who says the size of the club is what attracted him to move further down south.

The ex-Charlton man, who moved to the Stadium of Light just 18 months ago in a move worth up to £16.5m, is expected to score the goals to help stabilise Aston Villa’s Premier League status, with goals scored the only factor currently keeping the Villans out of the division’s bottom three.

Another club who will benefit are Tottenham, where Bent played from 2007-2009, who had a sell on clause included when he left White Hart Lane. That’s expected to have now paid for Steven Pienaar’s move from Everton this window.

To listen to Darren Bent’s first press conference as an Aston Villa player CLICK HERE