No Swap Deal for Bent

By Nick Raynor
December 4 2006

After ruling out a move for Chelsea's Andriy Shevchenko, Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder has also said he is not purusing a swap deal for Charlton's Darren Bent.

Reports in the media have said that Newcastle were willing to offer Stephen Carr and James Milner in exchange for the England striker.

However, with James Milner pledging his future at Newcastle, and Roeder not willing to let either of the players go, any swap deal for Darren Bent looks out of the question.

Roeder went on to say that Charlton look unlikely to sell as it would give a message of relegation out to thier supporters.

The Newcastle manager did not rule out the move however, and is thought to still be interested in the former-Ipswich striker.

Roeder said:

"I have been a fan of Darren Bent from the time I first saw him play for Ipswich, and in the summer we asked Charlton about him and were quoted £15m.

"We have not been back to The Valley for several reasons one of them being that Charlton would not sell Bent to us because it would send a terrible message out to their supporters.

"Certainly reports saying that we are offering James Milner and Stephen Carr in part-exchange for Bent are not correct, because both these players are very much in my plans.

"And as far as our supporters are concerned, it is important that while they must know we are busy and still monitoring several situations no decision has been made on any player we will be trying to bring to St James' Park."