Betting.Betfair

Off the field Darren Bent has not exactly covered himself in glory over the last week. His departure from Sunderland, just 18 months after agitating for a move away from Tottenham, bears all the hallmarks of the typical greedy, modern day footballer he is.

But Sunderland's bleating this week about Aston Villa using underhand tactics to tap up their leading goalscorer is just a case of sour grapes. "I'd have expected a call from Villa's manager," said Bruce. "I'd have expected Gérard Houllier to have had the decency to pick up the phone but that's not been the case. I would have thought that, out of respect, maybe he would say 'we're interested in buying your striker' in order to give me a chance to do something." What like, say 'no'?

Like it or lump it, tapping-up goes on in football all the time and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Clubs will always want to find out whether a not a player is willing to join them without risking upsetting the applecart in their own dressing room. They will want to convince the player to move before his club has a chance to persuade him otherwise while also avoiding the embarrassment of being turned down in public.

Furthermore, if Sunderland wanted to take the moral high ground they should have refused to sell him. Nobody forced them to take the £24m for the sometime England striker, but they did. So if they were prepared to sell him then they have no right to bleat about it. And the only reason, one assumes that the Black Cats are whingeing publicly, is so that the fans don't turn on them (they are priced at 3.5 to finish the season in the sixth place they now occupy) for having sold their goal machine to a rival club.

And that is what Bent is. He may not possess the grace of Fernando Torres, the skill of Carlos Tevez or the power of Didier Drogba but he scores goals. He brings to mind David Trezeguet in his pomp in that he is not a scorer of great goals but he is a great goalscorer. The statistics speak for themselves. Since the 2005/06 season, no player has scored more Premier League goals; he is level with Wayne Rooney and Drogba on 82 strikes.

That is why Villa paid so much money for him. If Bent's goals keep Villa in a Premier League, in which they are hovering three points above the drop zone (you can lay them in the relegation market at 12.0), then £24m is a price worth paying. There is a very good reason why top strikers are paid a king's ransom.

Yesterday, for example, Manchester United crushed Birmingham 5-0 with the help of a Dimitar Berbatov hat-trick that took the Bulgarian three goals clear of Tevez in the scorers' charts and in to 2.1 (from 4.1 when last mentioned in this column - to finish as top marksman for 2010/11.

Robin van Persie also hit three against Wigan and it is not insignificant that Arsenal have looked a different force since the forward's return from injury. Harry Redknapp's wife would have probably scored against Wigan playing in that Gunners side, but it is worth pointing out that Arsène Wenger's men have won seven and drawn one of the eight matches the Dutchman has started this season. If he can stay fit - admittedly a big 'if' - then their tempting 3.8 title odds will also keep shortening.

Every ambitious clubs needs a goalscorer. Hence the reason Manchester City have shelled out £27m for Edin Dzeko and why Tottenham, without a league win in three, have been scouting Diego Forlan. Spurs need a better quality marksman than Peter Crouch, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Robbie Keane to dovetail with Rafael van der Vaart, who like Bent has nine league goals to his name this season, and better exploit Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon's plentiful supply line.

Bent got off to a dream start by scoring the winner against City, putting Dzeko in the shade for the time being, and further denting Roberto Mancini's title hopes, which are now priced at 15.5, and only time will tell whether he justifies the outlay invested in him - after all Charlton still went down in 2007. My feeling is that with Stewart Downing and Ashley Young in the side, Bent might even fire Villa back into European contention next season - before jumping ship when Liverpool or Everton get hold of his phone number.

For more great football betting articles, go to http://betting.betfair.com/football/