David Bentley is seemingly set to leave Blackburn Rovers after declaring that he feels he has outgrown the Ewood Park outfit. The chance to test his skills in Europe is singled out as the reasoning behind Bentley’s desire to move on but the recent departure of Mark Hughes to Man City has surely been a key factor.

‘The situation is I want to move on. I want to be playing Champions League football, or in Europe,” declared Bentley in the weekend press.

That claim has already apparently alerted Rafa who is currently focusing on landing Barry from Villa of course. Although it’s interesting that Bentley adds the caveat of “or in Europe” – he clearly wants to leave his options open and the likes of Everton could well be on alert, particularly with rumours surrounding the future of Arteta.

Again, I personally see this as another disappointing development. Bentley had a decent season for Blackburn but has failed to dislodge Beckham and seal a role on the right of the England midfield. It appears that he feels that a move to a “bigger” club will help his cause.

‘I want a new challenge. I believe I have done as much as I can at the club and want to push on somewhere else,’ he emphasised.

In fantasy terms it looks like more bad news. A move for Bentley, like Barry’s likely transfer from Villa, is likely to see him shift from being a big fish in a small pond to a more expensive, fairly average size fish in a large ocean of talent. Bentley has thrived on being the key creative force at Blackburn but should he seal a move to the likes of Liverpool, he would be another player at Anfield vying for set-pieces and bonus points – both of which proved reliable sources of points whilst at Rovers.