Joe Jordan insists Tottenham were right to sell Darren Bent despite the striker going on to become an England regular.
Striker had to be 'sacrificed' by Spurs for good of team
Joe Jordan insists Tottenham were right to sell Darren Bent despite the striker going on to become an England regular.
Bent moved to White Hart Lane from Charlton in a £16.5milllion deal in 2007 but failed to establish himself in the first-team in north London, despite averaging a goal nearly every three games.
The 27-year-old moved to Sunderland in the summer of 2009 and, after a goal-filled 18 months on Wearside, secured an £18million move to Aston Villa last January.
Bent has also since established himself as a regular in Fabio Capello's England squad ahead of Jermain Defoe, the player who kept him out of the first-team picture at Spurs.
However, with Bent preparing to face his old club at White Hart Lane on Monday night, Jordan says the club have no regrets over selling the striker, while acknowledging his talents as a goal scorer.
"A lot of homework goes on behind the scenes in order for you to get the squad right," said the Scot.
Sacrificed
"Now and again someone has got to be sacrificed for his good and the good of the team.
"You have to look at the bigger picture and not just at that individual. Even now there is competition for places.
"Darren has always been a player that has scored goals. But here he was competing for a place with two or three other strikers who were equally good.
"If you are going to be involved at a big club, unless you are a real world-class player and even then you will be rested, you have got to look at the competition and accept that challenge and take it.
"And that is the way we are at Spurs. We have competition for places."
