- David Bentley
Biography
The England international midfielder joined from Blackburn Rovers in July 2008 in what the local lad described as a dream move.
And David had soon written himself into Spurs folklore with one of the best goals ever seen in a North London derby – a 40-yard volley in the memorable 4-4 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates in October 2008.
‘Bents’ played 35 games during his first season at Spurs, scoring twice, while also netting two goals in two Reserve games.
The form of Aaron Lennon on the right-hand side of Harry Redknapp’s midfield continued to restrict David’s first-team opportunities into the 2009-10 campaign but injury to ‘Azza’ in December opened the door and David started 10 of 16 games in the winger’s absence.
He made 133 appearances for previous club Blackburn – scoring 21 goals – after initially joining on loan from Arsenal in August 2005, the move being made permanent in January 2006.
David is a product of the academy at Arsenal and made nine first-team appearances for the Gunners, spending a season on-loan at Norwich City during his time there.
The 23-year-old has now won six senior England caps after previously representing his country at B, Under-21 and Under-20 level.
David Michael Bentley (born 27 August 1984 in Peterborough, England) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. Bentley started his career with Arsenal, and despite being earmarked as one for the future, saw his playing opportunities limited by a strong senior squad. He spent two seasons on loan with Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers, and sealed a permanent transfer to Rovers in January 2006. Bentley produced strong performances for his new club, and soon featured regularly for the England national Under-21 football team. He made his full international debut against Israel in September 2007. In July 2008, Bentley joined Tottenham Hotspur.
Club career
Arsenal – Blackburn Rovers and…
…Tottenham Hotspur: On 31 July 2008, Tottenham Hotspur announced their signing of Bentley from Blackburn Rovers for £15 million, and up to an additional £2 million payable upon future performances. Bentley made his competitive debut on 16 August 2008 away at Middlesbrough where Spurs lost 2–1. He scored his first competitive goal for Spurs in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round tie against Wisła Kraków on 18 September 2008. He then scored his first league goal for Tottenham against his old club Arsenal with a 43-yard dipping volley in a 4–4 draw on 29 October 2008. Bentley’s form would suffer at Tottenham, however, and after falling down the pecking order for both club and country, he confirmed on 17 June 2009 that he was in talks to move to Aston Villa. Subsequently, it was revealed by Bentley and Aston Villa that this was untrue.
The form of Aaron Lennon meant that Bentley has mostly been used as a substitute for the start 2009–10 season, although he did score a free kick in Tottenham’s 9–1 victory over Wigan Athletic, with the ball then going in off the back of Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. He also scored the second goal from a free kick in a 2–0 home win over Fulham on 26 January 2010. In June 2010, while in Marbella David Bentley confirmed that he would stay at Tottenham Hotspur unless told otherwise.
International career: Bentley has played for the England under-15 and under-16 teams, captained the England under-18 team and played for the England under-21 team. He recorded eight caps and four goals with the Under-21 team, He was the first Englishman to score at the new Wembley Stadium in a game against the Italy under-21 team on 24 March 2007.
In May 2007, following an impressive 2006–07 season for Blackburn, Bentley was called up for the England B international at Turf Moor for a match against Albania. After naming him as a starter, England manager Steve McClaren said Bentley had the potential to become England’s “new David Beckham”. In that match, Bentley provided the cross for Stewart Downing’s first goal and was involved in the buildup to Stewart Downing’s second in the 3–1 victory for England. He received the Man of the Match award for his performance. The next day, he was named in McClaren’s 26-man full England squad for the friendly match against Brazil and the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.
In June 2007, Bentley was called up to the England under-21 squad for the European under-21 Championships in the Netherlands. However, he pulled out of the squad citing fatigue, and England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce questioned the midfielder’s commitment to the national squad. This withdrawal led to Bentley being excluded in the senior England squad for the friendly against Germany, but he was selected for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia. He made his senior debut when he came on as a substitute for Shaun Wright-Phillips against Israel, but was jeered by some of the fans due to his previous refusal to play for the under-21 squad.
Bentley started for England for the first time in the friendly against Switzerland on 6 February 2008.