72: David Bentley, Blackburn Rovers, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League Official Sticker Collection 2006/07

Today Mat Jolin-Beech takes a look at a man who was briefly considered the future of English football. With his popstar good looks and midfield skill it was little wonder that he was considered to be the next Darren Caskey. As you might well have worked out by now it didn’t necessarily go to plan but we’ll always have that goal from the halfway line and a selection of excellent haircuts. Over to Mat.

There are some footballers who are once in a generation players. Icons of the game who redefine what footballers are and can do. Pele. Maradona. Cruyff. Beckham. Messi. Ronaldo. These names are among those that will forever be ingrained into fans of the beautiful game. However, with this icon of world class status inevitably comes the issue of succession. For every Pele, there have been hundreds dubbed as ‘the next Pele’. Likewise, for any player with a modicum of talent from the Netherlands, England, Argentina, and Portugal. That crown, with the weight of expectation that comes with it, often proves too much.

The next Thierry Henry of the noughties was meant to be David Bellion. Him of the “top X worst signings by Sir Alex Ferguson” infamy. But then there are those who appear to have the talent to wear the crown of thorns. Joe Cole looked like he may live up to the moniker of “the next Gazza” and indeed did in many ways, before ending his career with spells at Lille and Coventry City. But the subject of this particular collection of words is one of the many “next Beckhams”.

English: check. Right footed: check. Wide midfielder: check. Able to whip in a cross: check. Not that quick: very much check. That man is one David Bentley. You may say he was expected to be a Rolls Royce (sorry, not sorry) of a footballer, given those attributes and a junior career at Arsenal (when they were still good). Indeed his early career, with loan spells at Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers, won him many plaudits. A permanent move to Rovers came in 2006, where he helped them finish sixth and enter the Europa League for the following season. In 2008, a move to Tottenham Hotspur happened and that’s arguably, when things started going wrong.

Further loans moves in an attempt to reignite not only his career but his love for the game came and went. Birmingham City, West Ham United, FC Rostov of Russia, and then a final stint back at Blackburn Rovers. 7th June 2013 marked his official release from Tottenham Hotspur. There was interest in Bentley, and he certainly could have done a job – but he didn’t want to. A year later, aged only 29, he officially retired as a professional footballer.

His love of the game, which had always been wavering as a pro given his doubts and issues he had back in 2005 when still at Arsenal, had gone. Gambling failed to fill that gap. Playing first team football for other clubs and seven England caps also failed to satiate his desire – calling the modern game "robotic" because of social media and money, as well as "predictable and a bit too calculated”.

He’s since gone on to invest in bars, restaurants, a cleaning company and has launched a bespoke flooring company. Not quite the new David Beckham, given that the original has moved to the US and launched his own (not quite that successful) football club.

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