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Darren Bent will be allowed to leave Villa this summer – but the club look set to take a significant hit on the record £24 million fee they paid for the striker.

Right-back understudy Eric Lichaj , third choice goalkeeper Andy Marshall and loanee winger Simon Dawkins will also depart after the claret and blues opted not to renew their deals.

Bent and his representatives met with Villa earlier this week to discuss his future and it was decided the club would listen to offers for the 29-year-old.

He became Villa’s most expensive purchase in January 2011 when he arrived in a deal rising to £24 million from Sunderland and still has two years left on his contract.

But it is thought the club will struggle to attract offers of more than £8 million for Bent after he fell behind Christian Benteke in Paul Lambert’s striking pecking order.

Bent has scored 25 goals in 52 starts and 12 substitute appearance for Villa, the last of which came in Sunday’s draw at Wigan when he put himself in the shop window.

Since top scorer Benteke burst onto the scene, Bent has been limited to 12 league and cup starts and 11 cameos from the bench this season, notching six goals.

Villa had high hopes for Bent when he was signed by Gerard Houllier in a record deal 26 months ago and he scored nine goals, including a debut winner against Manchester City, to keep them in the Premier League.

He also hit 10 goals last season before his campaign was cut short in the February by an ankle problem which wrecked his dream of representing England at Euro 2012.

But despite being handed the captaincy at the start of Lambert’s tenure, Bent has since been restricted to a bit-part role, with injuries and Benteke’s form denying him a run in the first XI.

Bent has returned to the bench recently and started at Wigan on Sunday, but failed to make several matchday squads earlier in the season with Lambert preferring to select rookie striker Jordan Bowery.

Lambert rates the finishing prowess of the former Ipswich, Charlton, Tottenham and Sunderland frontman who is a member of the Premier League 100 goals club and is one of English football’s most prolific scorers.





But Villa’s boss has hit upon a system that relies on Benteke’s strength and touch as well as his goals and believes Andi Weimann and Gabby Agbonlahor are better suited to support the Belgian international.

Both parties believe Bent would be better off kickstarting his career elsewhere rather than kicking his heels on the sidelines at Villa, although the club will gladly keep him if their valuation is not matched.

As he nears 30, Bent has expressed a desire for first team football, while Villa believe the top earner’s wages could be better utlised elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Lichaj’s contract expires next month and with Matt Lowton established as first choice right-back and Chris Herd able to deputise, Villa will release the 24-year-old American, who came through the Bodymoor Heath academy.

Alan Hutton, who has two years left on his contract, will also have talks about his future when his loan spell with Real Mallorca ends next month.

Marshall is set to depart without playing a single competitive game for Villa. The 38-year-old stopper was originally signed by Martin O’Neill in August 2009 and has been retained on one-year deals, but youngster Benji Siegrist could be promoted as cover.

Dawkins is another who will wave goodbye to the club after a limited involvement since arriving on a low cost loan from Tottenham in January.

He made four substitute appearances, amounting to one hour and 11 minutes on the pitch and is continuing to attract interest from former loan club San Jose Earthquakes in MLS.