One of the finest strikers in terms of goals-to-games ratio, Bent has been consistent at all of his clubs, but endured a nightmare spell with Tottenham before finding his feet again.

A product of Ipswich's youth system, Bent broke into the first team in 2001-02 and after being used sparingly that term, he bagged 18 goals in all competitions despite only turning 19 in February the following year. Two more solid years saw him emerge as a real talent and with just one-year left on his contract he left after 141 appearances and 55 goals.

Charlton came in to sign the striker for a fee of £2.5 million and, although the club struggled during his time at The Valley, he still bagged 32 goals in Premier League 68 starts for a team which was eventually relegated in 2007. He then joined Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £16.5 million. It proved to be a frustrating experience as he found first team opportunities hard to come by and he failed to hit the net with the same regularity, bagging 18 in his two seasons at White Hart Lane.

Sunderland snapped him up for £12 million in 2009 and his career was back on track again, although he narrowly missed out on a place in Fabio Capello's 2010 World Cup squad. However, a shock bid from Aston Villa saw him move south in January 2011 for a record fee of around £24 million.

Strengths: Pace is his main weapon and he hangs on the shoulder of the last defender well.

Weaknesses: Doesn't score many goals with his head and lacks the physical power that could strike fear into defenders.

Career high: 24 goals in 38 games for Sunderland in his first season saw him finish as the 3rd top scorer in the Premier League.

Career low: His first season at Tottenham failed to justify his big price tag as he scored just six goals in 27 starts. It was the first time since his first season in 2001-02 that he failed to hit double figures.

Style: Fast, powerful, a quick and incisive striker.

Quotes: "You will never get a better chance to win a match than that. My missus could have scored that one". Spurs manager Harry Redknapp in January 2009 on Bent's miss against Portsmouth.

Trivia: Bent was one of the first footballers to use Twitter and had his DB10TheTruth username sewed into his boots before he was told to give up tweeting.