However, club are insistent they receive their asking price for attacker before he is let go.
Aston Villa have made unsettled front man Darren Bent train away from the rest of the first-team squad as the club prepares for his inevitable departure from Villa Park this summer, reports the Birmingham Mail.
The some-time England international has been deemed surplus to requirements in the Midlands by Villa head coach Paul Lambert after losing both his place in attack last season, as well as the captain’s armband under the Scot.
As a result, the striker made just 23 appearances overall in all competitions for Villa in the previous campaign, finding the back of the net only six times, while in the Premier League Bent netted three goals in his 16 matches.
However, Villa are understood to be determined to recoup at least £8 million for the player that they forked out a club-record £18m for when they bought Bent from Sunderland in Jan 2011, a fee that could potentially rise to as much as £24m depending upon add ons.
And that means that Bent is going nowhere until a potential suitor, such as Newcastle United, match that figure this summer.
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