Rovers reject Tottenham bid for Bentley

(GETTY IMAGES)

Blackburn have rejected a bid from Tottenham for England winger David Bentley.

The move is believed to have been made last night but was turned down by the Ewood Park outfit, who have previously insisted they want Bentley to remain at the club.

Chairman John Williams has refused to state how much the bid was for, although it is not thought to have matched the one Aston Villa made for the player last month.

"We have had bids from two clubs," Williams told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"One came in when Mark Hughes was manager, the other was fairly recent.

"They have both been rejected."

Bentley still has a year of his current contract to run but has refused to sign an extension.

He is adamant he wants to leave Ewood Park in order to further his international ambitions.

The former Arsenal trainee has not attracted interest from the top four clubs but Tottenham and Villa are both keen to add Bentley to their squads, which will compete in the UEFA Cup next season.

For his part, Bentley views the step up in standard as essential as he looks to cement a place in Fabio Capello's England side for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

It looked at one stage last season that Bentley had been earmarked for the right-sided midfield role but a combination of David Beckham's form and Capello's strategy in attack has made such a scenario appear less certain.

How Tottenham expect to get Bentley back to London remains unclear given the level of their bid.

However, they would hope the player's roots in the capital would help and a clear-out of peripheral figures in Juande Ramos' squad is possible, releasing more funds.

There is also the question of Liverpool's interest in Robbie Keane even if few Spurs fans think selling their captain makes sense.