Sunderland chief Steve Walton has ruled out selling Darren Bent this summer.

Bent has been a revelation since his summer arrival from Tottenham.

Walton said: "There is no way we will sell any of our top players, except for crazy money. It's about getting better every year, not going backwards."

Asked specifically if he was concerned about the big guns expressing an interest in leading scorer Darren Bent, who took his goal tally for the season to 25 at Hull last weekend, chairman Niall Quinn replied: "If so, it's great that they are because it means we are in a very good place with a very good player.

"We see Darren being phenomenal for this club for a long time to come."