Aston Villa are putting Darren Bent up for sale at £8 million.

The Daily Star Sunday says the England striker, 28, who cost a club record £20m from Sunderland two years ago, is out in the cold under Paul Lambert.

And the hard-up Midlands outfit are ready to offload him for £8m with Villa's American owner Randy Lerner ready to get shot of one the club's biggest earners.

Bent earns £80,000 a week but perhaps even more significantly, Villa must reportedly pay Sunderland another £4m if he makes three more Premier League appearances.