Aston Villa have missed out on some high-profile transfer targets in their time
Indeed, Villa have had their fair share of narrow misses in their time.
Emmanuel Adebayor almost joined Aston Villa to reunite with Tim Sherwood at one point, but that deal fell through at the last minute.
Meanwhile, Joao Felix nearly joined Aston Villa before heading to Chelsea in what would have been a blockbuster move.
Now, a former England international has claimed that he nearly signed for Aston Villa in a big-money move before heading to Tottenham instead.
David Bentley in action for Tottenham Hotspur
Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
David Bentley almost joined Aston Villa
Speaking on Undr The Cosh, David Bentley spoke about his move away from Blackburn Rovers.
The former England international says that he tried to force a deal through away from Ewood Park at the time, and he even met with Martin O’Neill about a move to Aston Villa.
The winger claims Villa were prepared to spend £16m to sign him, but he went to Tottenham instead due to Juande Ramos.
“I was trying to force a deal through, but it wasn’t beneficial for Blackburn to sell me because Arsenal had a 50% sell-on,” Bentley said.
“The structure of the deal, I met with Martin O’Neill because Villa were flying high at the time and pushing for the Champions League. They were going to pay £15m or £16m cash up front, the structure of the deal”
“But I joined Juande Ramos because I thought he was going to be the new Wenger, but it was just carnage, terrible, a terrible few months.”
Aston Villa signed James Milner instead of David Bentley
Villa may have missed out on Bentley that summer, but things worked out better for the Midlands club in the end.
Indeed, Villa would eventually sign James Milner that summer to play that right midfield role.
Of course, Milner would ultimately evolve into a central midfield player, and be sold to Manchester City for a serious profit.
Meanwhile, aside from a handful of memorable moments, Bentley didn’t do all that much at Tottenham.
Ultimately, Villa got the better deal in the end here, and they won’t lose too much sleep over missing out on Bentley.