Newcastle tried to hijack 100-club star's move after medical with Premier League rival

Darren Bent is a cult hero at Sunderland but his reputation on Wearside was almost left in tatters.

The former England striker and current talkSPORT presenter enjoyed a prolific 18-month spell with the black catsscoring 36 goals in 63 games for the club after arriving from Tottenham in 2009.

BentHis time at the Stadium of Light was short but sweet, and included his famous 'beach ball goal' against Liverpool, which is now part of Premier League folklore as he later moved to Villa Aston in January 2011 for a club record £24 million deal.

Despite an impressive start at Villa Park, the Englishman then struggled to replicate his heroics at Sunderland and was loaned out to Fulham for the 2013/14 campaign.

But a spectacular return to the north-east could have been on the cards here – and not at the level the club's fans would expect.

speaking in talkSPORT Drive with Andy GoldsteinBent revealed that Newcastle made one last attempt to lure him away from Fulham, having passed his medical with the west London team.

When asked by a caller to name a club he had turned down but wished he had joined, the former Spurs player recalled a crossroads in his career that came before he signed for the Cottagers.

He said: “The only move I think I probably should have made was when I went to Fulham for a year, and Ian Holloway was in (Crystal) Palace at that time and was chasing me.

“I spoke to Ian Holloway many times and I spoke to (Alan) Pardew in Newcastle.

“When I think about it now, it doesn't make sense. Palace offered me three years. He was 29, 30, I think.

“Three years at Palace. Newcastle equaled it, three years with Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew. And I chose to go on loan to Fulham for a year. I don't know (why I did that).”

And Bent admitted he had been sure a move would be made towards his once bitter rivals, only for it to be left too late.

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He explained: “The strange thing is I met Alan Pardew the year before, I think we played Wigan.

“And I met Pardew a couple of days later. I was given permission to meet Pardew to talk to him about going to Newcastle, so they were favourites.

“So I was convinced I was going to go to Newcastle.”

Bent then revealed that the Magpies' attempts to sign him came once he was already in the Fulham building.

The 40-year-old continued: “I didn't know about Pardew and Newcastle until I finished my medical at Fulham.

“They called me and said, 'What are you doing? We want you to come here.'

“I thought, 'Well, now I'm sitting here. Why are you telling me this now? You've given everyone the jump.'”

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It is no surprise that Bent now wishes he had taken up Pardew's offer, as his spell at Fulham was a disappointing point in his career.

That season, he scored just three goals in 24 league games as the Cottagers were relegated from the Premier League, finishing in 19th place.

Bent returned to Villa but his remaining time at the club was spent on loan as they split their 2014/15 campaign between Championship sides. Brighton and Derbybefore joining the latter permanently.

He retired from football in 2019, hung up his boots and scored 106 Premier League goals in 276 games, as well as scoring four goals for England.

But you can always wonder how much you could have added to this account if you had accepted Pardew's offer at the last minute.