Former Ipswich Town star Darren Bent has shared his first scouting report on social media - showing that he was tipped to ‘go a long way with hard work.’
The 36-year-old shared the report on Twitter - dated March 9, 1997, the Ipswich Town ‘Report on Players’ records him as being 13-years-old, 5ft 6ins tall and of ‘average’ weight.
Bent was living in Huntingdon at the time and playing for Godmanchester Under 13s.
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The report reads: “Darren’s main asset is his pace - he scores goals for fun (right-footed). His ball control needs to be worked on, and his heading is only average.
“However, with his pace and good positional sense, I feel there is something to work on.
“His attitude is very good, level-headed and willing to learn.
“I have seen this boy play on numerous occasions now and feel that he will improve vastly from professional coaching.
“This boy in my opinion should be fast-tracked into the Academy set-up.
“May go a long way with hard work.”
Bent, of course, did indeed go on to progress through the Town Academy into the first team, where he scored 55 goals in 141 games before departing for Charlton in June 2007 for a fee of £2.5 million.
He went on to play for Spurs, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Fulham, Brighton and Derby in an impressive career, before retiring after a loan spell at Burton Albion in 2018.
Bent also played for England 13 times, scoring four goals.
Fair to say that he did ‘go a long way’ in his career!
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