Filed under: Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, Premier League, Football
Darren Bent was so desperate for Ashley Young to remain at Aston Villa that he even texted his England colleague for over a fortnight in a bid to persuade him to stay.Unfortunately for Villa and Bent, his attempts failed and things went from bad to worse last week when their other chief creator, Stewart Downing, followed him out of the exit door.
Villa might have an extra £37million in the bank - Young joined Manchester United for £17million and Downing fetched £20million from Liverpool - but the truth is they face an impossible task replacing the duo, whom Bent claims provide "probably the best service in the division".
"You can't replace Stewy and Ash because they're two top players," said Bent. "It's a big loss, you can't dispute that. Any striker needs good service and Stewy and Ash give you that.
"I was in Ash's ear every day, I just kept texting him 'one more year' for weeks and weeks and when we were away with England I was on his case all the time.
"But at the same time, I fully understand. It's Manchester United at the end of the day - the biggest team in the world, so I wish him good luck and hope he does really well."
The danger for Villa is a growing reputation as a selling club. Two years ago it was Gareth Barry, in 2010 James Milner, now Young and Downing.
Of course, Bent, who has scored nine goals in 16 appearances since arrival, would be the next obvious name on most of the big clubs' shopping lists.
And, despite claims he remains happy at the club, supporters of Sunderland might question whether that would be the case should Villa start to struggle given the nature of his January exit from the north-east club.
He added: ""It doesn't affect me at all, obviously what Stewy and Ash did was for their careers. "I'd like to be here for the long haul. I've only been here for six months and its gone really well.
"I want to build on that and hopefully this season will be as successfully [personally] as last."
With Marc Albrighton already on the books, Villa need only sign one replacement for Downing and Bent and Charles N'Zogbia would be ideal, bringing some much-needed creativity and pace out wide.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/21/no-one-will-suffer-more-from-ashley-young-and-stewart-downings/
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