Darren Bent to Villa-A sad day at the Stadium of Light

Reports have been circulating today that dazzling Sunderland striker Darren Bent may be leaving the Black cats for Birmingham side Aston Villa. Now I am not a Villa hater whatsoever. In fact I have admired their ascendency in the Premier League table in recent years. Also, Bent is a perfect fit for the Villans. However, this is a serious blow to Sunderland, a team that has displayed that truly any team (relatively speaking) can and will go through ebbs and flows through their history. The cats have won six english football titles, which is quite impressive. However, recent years have seen a relegation to the Championship in 2006 as well as three seasons since that have only resulted in a finish as high as 13th.

photo courtesy: footie.co.za

Now this is no sob story. Out of over 900 clubs in England, Sunderland have always been among the best, even in those aforementioned years. However, this season has seen new light at the stadium of the same name. Sunderland at one point in this campaign reached sixth in the Premier League, essentially acting as the best team not in the heart of the title race.

The main point that I'm trying to make is you can go from being a relegation conversation team to a team just a handful of points removed from the likes of legitimate title contenders. With Darren Bent, Sundy would have had the potential to finish at least 7th. Now, it is up to them to show that they are on track to be the next Tottenham in that they can become title contenders within 2-3 years. However, much of that will depend on how they finish this season. In order to finish successfully, they will need to use the money they are getting for Bent to obtain another top-notch goalscorer to work alongside the Ghanaian sensation, Asamoah Gyan. If they can do so, the light will continue to shine in Sunderland. If not, the red and white striped dream may become dramatically less dazzling.

Update:
American midfielder and folk hero Michael Bradley is rumored to being on his way to Sunderland. Stay tuned.