#2: David Bentley
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Emerging through the youth set-up at Arsenal, it wasn’t until a move to Blackburn Rovers in 2006 that Bentley began to make a name for himself. Over the course of three seasons at Blackburn, due to some tremendous performances and spectacular goals, his reputation grew to the point where he was labelled the “new David Beckham” by then-England boss Steve McClaren.
Despite finishing 7th in 2007/8, Bentley put in a transfer request asking for a move to a bigger club. He received it when Tottenham Hotspur swooped in and paid a huge £15m fee. It seemed like he’d live up to the hype when he scored his first Spurs goal against his old club Arsenal, helping his side to a remarkable 4-4 draw in one of the season’s craziest games.
Bentley made 25 appearances for Spurs in 2008/9 but not long after, his form dipped dramatically. He made just 15 appearances in the following season and then ended up on a string of loan moves, first to Birmingham City, then to West Ham, Russian club FC Rostov, and finally back to Blackburn. None of the moves really worked out and Bentley never recovered his form before prematurely retiring in 2014. He was just 29.
An example of a player unable to make the step up? Or someone who believed his own hype a little too much? It’s hard to tell.
