Darren Ashley Bent (born 6 February 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays for Aston Villa, as a striker. Bent started his career with Ipswich Town. After progressing through their youth system he made his first team debut in 2001. He made 122 appearances and scored 48 goals in the league for Ipswich, before joining Charlton Athletic for a fee of £2.5 million in 2005. He was Charlton Athletic's top goalscorer for two consecutive seasons and joined Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £16.5 million in 2007. After two seasons at Tottenham he joined Sunderland. After a successful 18 months at Sunderland, he joined Aston Villa in 2011.