Sport Forward: Sunderland open talks with Bent

Darren Bent has made four appearances for England

Sunderland have begun negotiations with Tottenham about bringing striker Darren Bent to the Stadium of Light.

The 25-year-old is surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane following the signing of Peter Crouch for about £10m from Portsmouth.

Tottenham signed Bent for a club record fee of £16.5m from Charlton in June 2007 and will be looking to recoup as much of their outlay as possible.

The England forward scored 17 goals in all competitions for Spurs last season.

Bent did not travel to China, where Spurs are playing in the Barclays Asia Trophy, in order to negotiate a move away from White Hart Lane.

606: DEBATE

If it comes off it will be another good signing by Bruce and certainly things are looking in the right direction

Poolie_Mackem

New Sunderland manager Steve Bruce looks set to exceed the club record of £9m that the Black Cats paid for goalkeeper Craig Gordon two years ago.

Bruce is keen to bolster his forward line having signed 21-year-old Fraizer Campbell from Manchester United to complement Kenwyne Jones.

Sport Forward