Newcastle United: Darren Bent
The Magpies were in for Aston Villa’s some-time England international, along with Premier League rivals Fulham, with manager Alan Pardew desperate to add more firepower to his under-performing front line in the north east this season, especially following the departure of Senegalese striker Demba Ba to Chelsea in the January transfer window.
However, Pardew and new director of football Joe Kinnear opted to go for Queens Park Rangers forward Loic Remy instead, with the France international agreeing to move to St James’ Park on a season-long loan deal, although already one gets the feeling that this move is not going to work out for either party.
And yet had the Geordies been more convincing in their discussions with Bent, then there is every chance that the greater financial package they had on offer would have been more than enough to secure his signature and Newcastle would now have at their disposal a proven Premier League marksman.