Bent apologises over Twitter slur

Bent has been angered over his protracted move to Sunderland (GETTY IMAGES)

Tottenham striker Darren Bent has apologised for posting "inappropriate comments" about club chairman Daniel Levy on his Twitter page.

The England man criticised Levy on the social networking site last night, accusing him of holding up his proposed move to Sunderland.

Bent, who was pulled off Tottenham's trip to China at the last minute on Monday, said in a statement on the Spurs official website: "I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward and are often complex.

"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."

The statement continued: "I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my better judgment. I regret my actions and did not intend to offend Daniel Levy or anyone with the nature or the content of my posting."

Bent had earlier vented his frustration on Twitter at the lack of progress over his proposed move to the north east.

"Seriously getting p***ed off now," read his first message.

The striker 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 £16.5million that Tottenham paid to sign Bent from Charlton two years ago, while Sunderland were hoping to pay £12million rising to £14million.

The move had seemed to be imminent when Bent was pulled off Tottenham's flight to the Far East, but little progress has been made since

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, speaking in Beijing after guiding Spurs to the Barclays Asia Trophy title with a 3-0 win over Hull, gave his backing to Levy.

Redknapp, who claimed he is unaware of the details of the situation, believes it is the club's prerogative to hold out for the right offer for Bent.

He said: "I haven't seen a paper so I don't know what has happened. I don't deal with that side of it.

"At the end of the day the club and the chairman have negotiated a deal and he (Levy) knows what he wants and if he doesn't get it then he doesn't accept the offer.

"It is up to whoever wants to buy him to pay what the club wants and if they don't then there is no deal. That's football."

Bent finished as Tottenham's leading goalscorer with 17 last season.

Early this morning, the account in Bent's name was removed from Twitter.

Anyone logging in to the account, db10thetruth, found a message saying 'This page does not exist'.