West Ham simply blew Tottenham away in the race for Charlton Athletic striker Darren Bent.

The Hammers are signing Bent for £17 million, which was offered by Spurs in January, says the Daily Mail.

Spurs had been confident of signing Bent, who was keen to play in Europe to boost his England prospects.

Manager Martin Jol may have been able to point to a young and improving team which has finished fifth in the Premiership for the last two seasons but that wasn't enough.

Spurs refused to go higher than £12m this summer and pay wages that would shatter their structure.

The top earners at Spurs take home £50,000 a week and their best offer to Bent was £35,000. He will earn a massive £75,000 a week at Upton Park.