What will Darren Bent bring to Fulham?

Martin Jol's Fulham did much of their transfer business early in the window. Maarten Stekelenburg, Derek Boateng and Fernando Amorebieta all arrived as soon as possible, with the club also trying up the permanent signing of Sascha Riether.

With not much money believed to be available, even with new owner Shahid Khan, Jol's more recent business has been in the loan market with Adel Taarabt arriving earlier in the month.

The latest signing is Darren Bent for a season from Aston Villa, with the deal announced on Friday morning. But how would the striker fit into Jol's Fulham setup?

© Getty Images

First and foremost, Bent would add depth to an area of the Fulham squad that is lacking in numbers. Over the summer Mladen Petric left the club, which has left them with just Dimitar Berbatov and Hugo Rodallega as senior strikers.

A third player, and one that Jol knows from his time at Tottenham, would provide options tactically for the Dutchman and, perhaps most importantly, would allow a plan B that was frequently lacking last season.

In the 2012-13 season Fulham at times played some neat, patient football. However, all too often their attacks were sluggish and devoid of pace. Towards the middle of the season other teams were able to get men behind the ball after an attack, which led to Fulham struggling to score all-important goals.

© Getty Images

While current first-choice Berbatov's game revolves around dropping deep to collect the ball before arriving late in the box, Bent's is all about staying on the shoulders of the defence and stretching them to create opportunities for him to be played in over the top, in behind or from crosses.

He is a natural poacher which, while Berbatov is adept at that too, can only be of benefit to any team. The flip-side of Bent's strong point is that by staying up the field he is rarely able to dig in to win the ball back. This would create a problem should Taarabt be in the same XI - Fulham would be effectively two men down in defence.

On paper, it would appear that the best way for Jol to incorporate Bent would be to play him alongside Berbatov in a two-man attack. That way the Cottagers would get the most of both strikers. However, with Jol's preferred formation - at least last season - being Berbatov up front with Bryan Ruiz in behind, this could potentially switch to Bent being the focal point with Ruiz missing out altogether.

There will certainly be plenty of options for Jol to organise his attack this season. Of course, a striker such as Bent is only as good as the service he is provided with and with creativity in the centre of midfield arguably Fulham's weakest area this might need to be addressed.

Bent should be well supported from the flanks, however. Alexander Kacaniklic and Ashkan Dejagah are both capable crossers of the ball, which leaves the key area to click being whoever is selected to play as the number 10.

If Bent can create a connection with one or two of Ruiz, Taarabt or Berbatov then Fulham may well improve on their 50 goals scored last season.