Striker Darren Bent's agent has informed Town boss Joe Royle that the England U21 wants to make a move into the Premiership this summer. Bent first told TWTD back in December that he would have to consider his future if the Blues failed to win promotion.

Royle said: "Darren has informed us through his agent that he feels the time is right to move on and play in the Premiership.

"We will just have to wait and see what happens, whether there is interest in him and if there are clubs out there who are prepared to make offers. We don't want to lose Darren but we hear what he is saying. However, it is still very early days.

"If we were to lose Darren and Tommy [Miller, linked with Sunderland], you are talking about a 34-goal gap that we would need to plug and I would want to do it sooner rather than later."

Sunderland, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Charlton and Everton have all been linked with Bent during the last few months.

The 21-year-old has only a year left on his Town contract and the Blues will hope to achieve a fee in excess of the £3 million Charlton bid turned down last summer.

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