Tottenham Hotspur: David Bentley Joins FC Rostov on 4-Month Loan Spell

High-priced midfielder David Bentley is finally getting some starts. Too bad for him it won't be at White Hart Lane.

According to Goal.com, Tottenham made a shock move to loan out Bentley to Russian Premier League side FC Rostov late Thursday night. The loan spell will reportedly last four months.

Hopes around North London are that Bentley will get some much-needed playing time. The 28-year-old winger and central midfielder joined Spurs for a fee of £15 million in 2008—coincidentally the last time he featured on the England national team.

Before coming to Tottenham, the midfielder graduated through Arsenal's youth system and featured heavily at Norwich City and Blackburn.

At Tottenham, you could barely say he featured at all—in four seasons with Spurs he made just 42 appearances and was instead used for short-term loan spells with Birmingham City and West Ham United.

If he catches on at FC Rostov, he could perhaps revive his career and make something of a difference for Tottenham in the spring. After all, the Russian side finished 13th in the Russian Premier League last season, so they're looking for all the offensive firepower they can get.

Should Bentley receive regular playing time and improve his pace in the midfield, and if Tottenham makes it past the group stages in Europa, he could play a huge part in helping new Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas balance the strained demands of spring football.

The knockout stages of the Europa League start in February and FA Cup play never gets interesting until snow starts to melt. Add in the fact that Villas-Boas' head will be served on a silver platter if Spurs don't make the top four and next season's Champions League and you've got a busy spring that Bentley could contribute something towards.