Tottenham Hotspur have signed their fair share of transfer flops over the years.
Indeed, Tanguy Ndomele was poor for Tottenham after a big-money move from Lyon, while Richarlison has been underwhelming since his arrival from Everton.
Cast your mind back a bit further, and you’ll remember the fact that David Bentley was highly-rated when he arrived at Spurs.
Tottenham paid £15m to sign Bentley from Blackburn Rovers, which, according to Sky Sports’ transfer inflation calculator, is £60m in today’s money.
Bentley didn’t set the world alight at Tottenham, and, ultimately, this proved to be the wrong move for the midfielder.
Speaking on Filthy Fellas, Jermaine Jenas has been discussing Bentley’s time at Tottenham, and the England international says he actually told Bently to not join Spurs ahead of his move.
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David Bentley was warned about Tottenham move
Jenas spoke about Bentley and what he told him about joining Tottenham.
The pundit says he told Bentley that he shouldn’t sign for Spurs, stating that he warned him that Aaron Lennon was Spurs’ first-choice right winger.
“I actually told him not to sign for Tottenham, and I loved him. When he was at Blackburn, he had one of his best years, and me and him were both, no, we were both signed for Puma at the time, so we used to have to go and do campaigns together. And on this campaign, he’s like, oh, I think I’m coming to Spurs,” Jenas said.
“And I was like, don’t do it. And he was like, why? I said, you’re not going to play.
“I said, we’ve got Aaron Lennon on the right wing, and our game is speed, do you know what I mean? Our game is like, fly down that wing and score goals. And I don’t see it working, Bents.
“And he was like, no, no, I’ll get in, I’ll get in. Anyway, he arrived, and Aaron’s like, mate, you’re not taking this spot. It’s as simple as that.”
David Bentley stats for Tottenham
Bently didn’t listen to Jenas’ advice as he joined Tottenham in 2009.
Unfortunately, the move didn’t quite work out for Bentley, he would only play 62 matches for Tottenham, and he didn’t make a massive impact in that time, as the stats show.
| David Bentley stats for Tottenham | |
| Games | 62 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 11 |
Bentley is probably most remembered at Spurs for pouring a bucket of water over Harry Redknapp’s head after qualifying for the Champions League in 2010, which, in a way, says a lot about his time in north London.
Bentley would ultimately leave Tottenham after just two full seasons at the club, playing for Birmingham City, West Ham and Rostov before returning to Blackburn Rovers and retiring before the age of 30.
Bentley’s career may have turned out differently if he’d taken Jenas’ advice and avoided this move to Tottenham.
