 Sunderland opened negotiations to sign Bent in July 2009 . The deal seemed delayed and through social networking website Twitter he accused chairman Daniel Levy of disrupting his move to Sunderland , although Bent later apologised , saying he acted out of frustration . He travelled to Sunderland to sign for the club after they agreed a fee with Tottenham , and after passing a medical , Bent signed for Sunderland on 5 August for an initial fee of £ 10 million plus potential additional payments , which later rose to £ 16 @.@ 5 million . He scored on his Sunderland debut , which was the only goal in a 1 – 0 victory against Bolton , and was followed with Sunderland 's opening goal against Chelsea in a 3 – 1 defeat . He scored a brace in the 4 – 1 win over Hull City to give himself his third and fourth goals in five games . 
