Bentley's agent confirms interest in Portsmouth move

Necronomicon

From http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=299265 David Bentley's agent has confirmed that he would be interested in moving to Portsmouth.

The agent of Arsenal starlet David Bentley has revealed his client would be interested in a move to Portsmouth.

Pompey have been linked with the 20-year-old midfielder who recently handed in a transfer request at Highbury due to a lack of first-team opportunities.

The South Coast outfit kicked off the new season in disappointing style with a 2-0 reverse at home to Tottenham on Saturday and boss Alain Perrin has made it clear he wants to add at least three new faces to his squad before the transfer deadline at the end of the month.

Bentley's future has been the subject of widespread speculation since his decision to quit Arsenal came to light, but representative Robert Segal insists a switch to Fratton Park would be welcomed.

"Yes, of course we would be interested in Portsmouth, they play the right type of football as well," he told skysports.com.

Segal revealed he had yet to field any contact from Pompey, but added: "They know where I am and they know where Arsenal are, but Portsmouth would be of interest - definitely."

Segal confirmed that both Manchester City and Wolves had been in contact regarding the England Under-21 international, but denied any knowledge of interest from Crystal Palace.

Indeed, he claimed that, in an ideal world, Bentley would never have chosen to leave Arsenal, but revealed encouragement from England boss Sven Goran Eriksson, amongst others, had persuaded him to move on in search of regular first-team action.

"David just wants to play football, he'd like to play at Arsenal, Arsenal want to keep him, but the common ground is that they both realise he needs to be playing football," Segal continued.

"It's one of those amicable partings, Arsenal don't want to let him go, David Dein doesn't want to let him go, but realises he is a very good footballer and a decent guy.

"He doesn't want to leave Arsenal but he just wants to play football.

"When Sven says to you that you, (Wayne) Rooney and (James) Milner are the three best players in the country at your age group, you need to be playing football - it's as simple as that."

Would this be a good move for Bentley?

Big Nelly

Can this not be posted in the Transfer rumours thread? we dont need a thread on every possible move that might happen!

Necronomicon

A good couple of Arsenal fans around, thought it was worth a discussion.

impr0v

It would be a better move than going to Wolves, he'll be playing premiership football at least, well until the end of the season anyway. I'm surprised that there hasn't been more interest in Bentley, I thought he looked very good last season, in a very ordinary team.