Where Now for David Bentley?

A £15m summer signing and singled out by many as the long-term successor to David Beckham in the England national team, much was expected of David Bentley following his arrival at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

Bentley scored what will arguably prove to be the goal of the season at the Emirates against his former club and North-London rivals, but that 40-yard strike is the right-wingers solitary goal of the league season.

Manager Harry Redknapp was quoted over the weekend as saying that Bentley should probably be looking to move on seeing as he’s been unable to get in the Spurs team despite the recent absence of Aaron Lennon in the past two games.

Since the turn of the year Bentley has even found his appearances to be increasingly rare and has made only one outing as a substitute in the league since January.

Indeed, having started 20 of the first 24 games (and appeared as a substitute in three of the other four), Bentley has since made just one substitute appearance lasting 19 minutes in the past 13 league matches.

Perhaps what is most telling is that Tottenham only won six of the 24 games he’s been involved in, picking up 1.04 points per game in the process. This doesn’t compare favourably with the statistics showing that Spurs have won eight of the 13 games in which Bentley has played no part, picking up exactly two points per game.

Bentley, who missed a crucial penalty in the Carling Cup Final shoot-out against Manchester United, has struggled to re-produce the form he showed at Blackburn that convinced Juande Ramos to shell out £15m on him.

Recently he has been reduced to watching from the bench as Aaron Lennon has produced the best football of his career on the right-wing for both club and country.

It now seems clear that not only does Redknapp rate Lennon far ahead of him for the right-midfield berth but also the former Blackburn wide-man has completely fallen off Fabio Capello’s radar.

Yet it all seemed to be heading so differently less than eighteen months ago when Bentley lined up against Switzerland at Wembley in Fabio Capello’s first ever selection as England manager.

Bentley has gone on to make four more substitutes under the Italian, but only one since his summer move to Tottenham and this was way back at the beginning of the season when the Czech Republic came to Wembley for an August friendly.

Capello selected Bentley for his squad for the World Cup Qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia in September 2008 but has not selected the winger since and the former Blackburn player looks well down the pecking order past Theo Walcott, David Beckham, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and probably even a fit Joe Cole for the right-midfield spot in Capello’s team.

So with the World Cup round the corner and his club manager making strong hints that his time at Spurs is numbered, where next for David Bentley?

A move to any of the ‘Top Four’ © seems out of the question given his failure to make an impact at White Hart Lane this season. Liverpool could remain an outside bet but Rafa Benitez only recently got rid of a similar player in the shape of Jermaine Pennant and Dirk Kuyt has enjoyed a highly productive end to the season on the right-hand side of midfield.

Aston Villa would probably have the necessary finances but unless they part ways with one of Ashley Young or James Milner then it’s difficult to see why they would need him. Ditto Manchester City who, despite Bentley working well under Mark Hughes at Blackburn, already have Shaun Wright-Phillips.

West Ham and Portsmouth are believed to be particularly strapped for cash and the latter will probably look to secure the aforementioned Pennant on a free transfer if anything. Newcastle United would normally be the club to match his wage demands in a flash but with Premier League football looking increasingly unlikely you can rule them out.

Fulham and Everton look like set to offer European football for next season but unless the transfer fee involved is much reduced, by around half, then any deal looks a non-starter in terms of finance.

So unless they is a suitor to be found abroad then perhaps the only move available to Bentley might well be a return ticket to Ewood Park. It might be a bitter pill for him to swallow but Sam Allardyce has resurrected a fair few careers in his time and is never normally shy of getting a player who can put the ball into the box.

With money due to come in from the expected sale of Roque Santa Cruz a return to Blackburn might well be the best Bentley can hope for, and in a World Cup year it might well be foolish to turn down.