Darren Bent prepared to be picky about his future

Darren Bent may have dropped down to the bench at Paul Lambert's Aston Villa, but the former shining star is still set to be choosy about his future. Despite having received no bids thus far for the striker, Bent is still looking to have a say in where he'll play next.

It seems Bent is keen on Newcastle -- possibly eager to once again rile up the Sunderland fans who used to adore him so much when he played for their club? But the thing is, he wants to play for Alan Pardew, his former boss while at Charlton, where he spent 2005-2007. And, of course, no one knows if Pardew's going to be sticking around, ridiculously long contract or not.

So Villa have an overpaid striker on their hands. One that neither Newcastle, nor Fulham, nor likely any club not located in China or Turkey, are likely to pay more than £6m for -- and that's not even including his ludicrous wages. So will Bent need to changes his expectations about his future, or is he going to have to be content with sitting on the bench, watching Christian Benteke bag the goals?*

*dear god please say Christian Benteke will still be around bagging the goals next season