£15m Darren Bent off to Sunderland as Peter Crouch joins Tottenham

Darren Bent was last night dramatically withdrawn from Tottenham's pre-season China tour to complete a £15million move to Sunderland.

The former Charlton striker was with the Spurs squad already on board the plane for the Far East at Heathrow - and even sitting in his seat - when the order came to disembark.

Bent, 25 - who knew he was out of Harry Redknapp's plans even before the £10m arrival last night of Peter Crouch - had already agreed to join Black Cats boss Steve Bruce in principle.

But the two clubs had not agreed a fee with Tottenham attempting to recoup as much of the £18.5m they paid for Bent - and Sunderland desperate to negotiate downwards.

As a result, Bent had resigned himself to the farcical exercise of travelling out to Beijing to play against West Ham, Hull and the host city as his club and the Wearsiders thrashed out a deal.

He was all set for take-off when he was escorted from the plane, collected his baggage and taken to a waiting car. He was whisked up the motorway for talks with Sunderland boss Bruce.

He is expected to land a five-year deal along with the chance to rediscover the form that made him one of the most sought-after strikers in the country.

Spurs wasted little time using Bent's fee to sign Crouch for a 'cut-price' £10m - after doing a deal to pay the money up front to help out hard-up Portsmouth.

Chairman Daniel Levy thrashed out the terms that see England star Crouch head for White Hart Lane for around £2m less than Sunderland were going to pay just a few days ago.

In the dramatic talks Levy took advantage of Pompey's current cash-flow problems and willingly paid the fee in one immediate lump sum.

Crouch, who will pick up around £75,000 a week, is delighted to get a move back to the club where he began his career after his spell at Fratton Park ended with the club in turmoil.

Despite the pending takeover by Sulaiman Al-Fahim, Pompey still have bills to pay - including the bank -and most of the Crouch cash will go towards settling those accounts.

However boss Paul Hart should still be given some money to buy Crouch's replacement, Croatian Nikola Kalinic.

But that deal with Hajduk Split would see the £6m payments spread over several years.