Darren Bent has admitted that he didn’t sign for Newcastle back in 2013, because he couldn’t be bothered to get a flight to the north-east of England while talking on the All to Play For podcast.
The striker was set to leave Aston Villa in the summer transfer window that year, and in the end he joined Fulham on a season-long loan, turning down a four-year contract from Newcastle United to join the Cottagers.
Bent didn’t turn down the Magpies due to footballing reasons or anything like that, he didn’t join the club because he simply couldn’t be bothered to get a flight.
“Ultimately I ended up going to Fulham on loan for a year, which didn’t work, when I could have signed for Newcastle for four years, or four years at Palace,” Bent said.
“That was one of them decisions, because I was sitting outside Motspur Park at the time, the training ground I thought ‘Well I can’t be bothered to jump on a plane to Newcastle or go across London to Palace, so I ended up just doing it and I think to myself it’s something I shouldn’t have done.”
It’s fair to say that Newcastle dodged a major bullet with this one.
Bent would score just two league goals for Fulham that season as the Cottagers were relegated.
The fact that Bent couldn’t be bothered to get a flight shows where his mind was at during that time.
If he wasn’t willing to get a flight, how would he have coped with intense training on a daily basis?
The Magpies had a lucky escape in not signing Bent, especially on a four-year contract.
