Newcastle United bid for Darren Bent could be imminent

Newcastle United appear to have lost out on the prospect of landing their number one striker target in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as reports are he's headed to Borussia Dortmund, but one striker the Toon have been linked to appears to have been cleared to make a move.

Darren Bent, long linked to Newcastle because of Alan Pardew, appears to have Aston Villas blessings to move... in the sense that they don't seem to want him anymore. According to The Chronicle, the Magpies have been given the green light to bid on Villa's unwanted striker, who they're not even allowing to participate in the preseason program.

We understand Villa boss Paul Lambert has told the 29-year-old that he not only won't take any part in the squad's pre-season preparations, either friendly matches or travelling to a training camp in Germany, he won't even be allowed to train with the first-team at all.

Aston Villa is rumored to be asking £8 million for Bent, which is double what Newcastle United have him valued as according to The Chronicle.

If the Toon can land Bent for the £4-5 million range it would be a quality signing and still leave Newcastle available to make some other moves, especially if they're after another striker to add to the mix.

If the plan is just to go get Bent because he's scored a lot of goals in the past, then well.... Yeah.