England striker Darren Bent was forced to apologize after using Internet networking site Twitter to blast Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy for failing to rubber-stamp his proposed move to Sunderland.
Bent, 25, went online to hit out at Levy as his move to Sunderland drags on.
A Twitter account in Bent’s name on Thursday carried a series of scathing attacks on Levy, who is said to be playing hardball with the Black Cats over the fee for the player.
“Seriously getting pissed off now,” read the first message.
Bent then went on to add: “Why can’t anything be simple? Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest. Do I wanna go Hull City? NO. Do I wanna go Stoke? NO. Do I wanna go Sunderland? YES.”
It is thought Levy is attempting to recoup the £16.5 million (US$27.5 million) that Spurs paid to sign Bent from Charlton Athletic two years ago, while Sunderland were hoping to pay £14 million.
Bent had to issue a statement on Tottenham’s official Web site admitting he had gone too far.
“I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward and are often complex,” he said. “However, after a long period of waiting following my withdrawal from the plane to China, I had become incredibly frustrated by the time these things take and I posted inappropriate comments on my Twitter site.”
On Friday, the account in Bent’s name was removed from Twitter.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce admitted the deal was in the balance and he feared another club, possibly Aston Villa, could make a last-ditch bid to snatch Bent.
“Someone says Darren has been Twittering,” Bruce told the Sunderland Echo. “I don’t even know what that is, but I have seen a few things in the papers about it. Footballers aren’t just objects. There’s a human being in this who is obviously caught up in the middle and wants his future sorted out. The situation at the moment is that the clubs are still talking. We’re still hopeful that we can agree a fee with Spurs ... but now I’d say it’s 50-50.”
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