Source: Daily_Mail
No regrets: Sunderland signing Darren Bent on Daniel Levy, Twitter and his two tough Tottenham years
Darren Bent has launched another attack on Tottenham and their manager Harry Redknapp after finally sealing his record-breaking move to Sunderland.
The 25-year-old striker, who has joined the club for an initial fee of £10million which could rise to a club record £16.5m, was already under fire for his foul-mouthed criticism of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy on social networking site Twitter last week.
Darren Bent
Star in stripes: Darren Bent is all smiles after his Sunderland move
Bent was dramatically pulled out of Tottenham's pre-season tour to China at the last minute, delaying the club flight while his bags were pulled off the aeroplane, but then the 25-year-old became increasingly angry at the on-going delay over his switch to the Stadium of Light.
'Seriously getting p***** off now,' read the message posted on his site. It was followed by 'Why can't anything be simple. It's so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***.'
During the course of the day, as interest in his material intensified, he said 'Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest. Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy.'
But Bent, who joins Sunderland at the third time of asking after failed bids from Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane, was unrepentant. He said his rant at Levy helped speed up the long-running saga and described his two years at Spurs as 'the worst' of his career.
Bent said: 'It seems like it has paid off, but I was disappointed at the way it came out. I just wanted to come to Sunderland. I'm delighted to be here. There's a lot of politics at Spurs. I'm a Sunderland player now and it seems a lot more relaxed here.
'My career stood still at Tottenham. I scored a lot of goals but it was the hardest two years of my life and the worst two years of my career - even last year when I was their top scorer I never felt wanted.'
Darren Bent
Farewell: Darren Bent struggled to win over the Tottenham fans
Redknapp, however, hit back, insisting Bent should concentrate on his game. 'I don't think he needs to be critical of the Tottenham boardroom,' said the manager. 'I don't think he needs to get involved, it's none of his business.
'Darren's a good player. I had no problems with him. He's just got to move on. I decided to change things around. I wanted to get Peter Crouch in and Darren was a good deal.'
Bent, capped four times for England and whose value will increase with more internationals, said he felt undermined by Redknapp, who once famously claimed his wife could have scored a chance Bent missed. Steve Bruce is a different sort of character.
Bent said: 'Steve was a big factor in joining. So, too, was the passion of the club. The fans, the place in general is fantastic.
'It's massive to have the support of your manager. It's not been the case for the last two years. I didn't feel he (Redknapp) wanted me. There's nothing worse than being a striker and seeing your club linked with every other striker. The chapter has closed.
'Now it's all about Sunderland. They want to make big strides. Sunderland have the potential to go beyond Spurs.'
