"£50-60m" - Charlton Athletic: Claim made around Darren Bent peak transfer value | OneFootball

The former England striker made 79 appearances in two years at The Valley.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic had an abundance of so-called 'Barclaysmen' throughout the 2000s during their seven-season stay in the Premier League.

However, their top scorer in their final two campaigns in the division, Darren Bent, perhaps takes the crown as the best player from that era of the Addicks.

The now striker-turned-pundit excelled during his time at The Valley after joining from Ipswich Town in July 2005 for an initial £2.5 million, rising to £3 million through an appearance-based add-on.

In his 79 appearances in the red-and-white of Charlton, Bent scored 37 times, with all but six of those goals coming in the Premier League. His strikes in his first season at the club fired Alan Curbishley's side to 13th in the table, two places below their finish in the 2004/05 campaign.

Despite his scoring spree continuing, the then 22-year-old could not manage to keep his team in the top flight in 2006/07, and so started the chain of events that has led to the South London-based side being a regular in League One.

Bent would be worth a monumental amount in 2024

The transfer market has changed rapidly in the last 20 years, and therefore, Football League World has penned the question to their Fan Pundits over how much they believe some of their club's most iconic players would be worth in their prime in 2024.

Bent, at the time of his arrival, was an England U21 international, and went on to make 12 senior appearances for his country, earning his first cap while at The Valley.

According to FLW's Charlton Fan Pundit, Ben Fleming, the Addicks' former number 10's market value in 2024 would be somewhat similar to that of a new Tottenham Hotspur signing.

"If you look at the couple of seasons he had here before he left us for Spurs, the comparison you can potentially make is to someone like Dominic Solanke in today's transfer market."

"We were a similar level of club to what Bournemouth are now, and they got £65 million. So, for a young English player at the time, coming from a fellow Premier League club, there would have been plenty of interest in him too."

Ben continued: "I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that in today's market, we could have got a similar fee to the one that Bournemouth got from Spurs for Solanke.

"So I think maybe in the region of £50m-£60m if possible. He would have been young and at a good age. He was obviously scoring the goals, so, I think it’s reasonable to expect a similar price."

Bent moved to Tottenham for a club record fee

Following the confirmation of Charlton's relegation at the end of 2006/07, it seemed fairly obvious that Bent was going to leave the club.

However, the Addicks made it harder than others might have for Spurs to try and bring in the red-hot youngster. They rejected an offer of £12 million, before eventually accepting a £16 million bid after Bent had rejected West Ham United in a £17.5 million move that never came to happen.

The England international spent just two seasons at White Hart Lane before moving to Sunderland in 2009, where he recorded his best ever season in the Premier League, scoring 24 goals in 38 games.

He went on to play for Aston Villa and Fulham in the top flight in the following years, before a loan move to Brighton & Hove Albion saw his time in the division come to an end. In January 2014, he made the switch to Derby County, originally on loan for the rest of the season, before joining the Rams permanently in the summer, eventually ending his career at Burton Albion in 2017/18.