Source: Daily_Mail
Sunderland on the brink of £12m deal for Bent to fund Crouch's Spurs move
Darren Bent's move to Sunderland looks back on with Steve Bruce ready to use the £12million he had earmarked for Portsmouth's Peter Crouch to land the unsettled Tottenham striker.
Bent is desperate to leave White Hart Lane and, unlike Crouch, is keen on a move to the Stadium of Light.
His transfer to Wearside had looked doomed after Sunderland were quoted £16m by Spurs.
But Harry Redknapp needs the cash from Bent's sale to fund a move for Crouch and Sunderland are confident that means Spurs are ready to lower their demands for the former Charlton striker.
Tottenham are likely to offer Giovani Dos Santos and Pascal Chimbonda as makeweights in a deal for Crouch, but Portsmouth are understood to prefer a straight cash deal.
Although Redknapp is keen to reunite his former Portsmouth strike force of Crouch and Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane, it seems that the Tottenham manager's firstchoice had been Real Madrid's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
But reports in Spain claim that Huntelaar's move to Stuttgart for an initial £15.5m had finally been agreed after a wrangle over wages was ironed out.
The Dutch international is understood to feel that the German club are in a good position to repeat last season's qualification for the Champions League while, in his opinion, Spurs remain some distance from gatecrashing the Barclays Premier League top four.
Spurs last night confirmed the signing of Sheffield United defenders Kyle Naughton, 20, and Kyle Walker, 19, for a joint fee in the region of £8m.
Walker is expected to return to Bramall Lane on loan for the coming season.
