Fabio Capello believes Darren Bent is a completely different player for Aston Villa and he is keen to see him lead the attack with Wayne Rooney in England's friendly with Denmark on Wednesday.
Rather surprisingly, given that Bent has been at his new club for only three weeks, Capello has watched him twice and reckons he is twice the player than the one he left behind for the World Cup.
"Everyone knows he is terrible for defenders in the box, but now he is a player who can play for the team and not just himself. This is important. When I choose a player I choose him for the team," Capello said.
"When I spoke with other managers about him last year they all told me Bent is a fantastic player in the box, but not outside. So when it came to the World Cup I thought I had other players who were better, such as Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe.
"I told Darren he had to change. He had to work a lot, press a lot. When he played for Sunderland it was important for them to go straight for the goal, but Villa play in a different way and now Bent is a completely different player. He was not the same player a year ago that he is now, and I have to choose the best player in the moment."
Bent was the leading English goalscorer in the run up to the World Cup in South Africa and Capello's belated appreciation of his ability seems to suggest Gérard Houllier is either a better judge of a player or a training ground wizard to have so transformed the striker in a matter of days. It does not appear to have occurred to the Italian that if Bent could adapt his game with Villa in under a fortnight he could have done the same with England in South Africa.
Capello's major surprise though was the inclusion of Bent's team-mate Kyle Walker. England have been struggling in the right-back department, but Walker's elevation comes at the end of a period when the 20-year-old has excelled in loan spells with QPR and Villa, Harry Redknapp having decided there is no short-term use for him at Tottenham.
Capello also intends to bring out a new facet of Jack Wilshere's game in Copenhagen by deploying the Arsenal teenager in the "Makélélé" position, acting as a holding midfielder in front of the back four. "It is not the position he prefers, he likes to go forward," Capello said. "But one of the midfielders has to stay back and I think he might be the best player for the position. He might be even better than [Claude] Makelele. His movement, with and without the ball, has improved a lot. Makélélé was faster and could play with both feet, but Wilshere has played in this position before. I like him. He is a really important player for Arsenal and I hope he will be for us. He is really intelligent on the pitch and now he is playing with confidence."
Capello was naturally pleased to see Rooney back among the goals, although claims he was never concerned. "I have seen his last five games for Manchester United," he said. "He played well every time, but didn't score. But what is really important is that he made many assists for Berbatov. I spoke to Sir Alex and he said the same thing – he was playing well. But goals can only help a striker, his confidence will be high again now and maybe the next part of the season will be all about Rooney. I don't know why goals dry up, but sometimes they do.
"When I was a club manager I bought Leonardo from Paris St Germain. From December to June, he scored three goals. His missed everything. He was hitting the post, shooting just wide, seeing goalkeepers make great saves. But he was still playing well and the next season he scored 14. This is what can happen."
England: Foster, Hart, Stockdale; Baines, Cahill, A Cole, Dawson, Johnson, Lescott, Terry, Walker; Barry, Downing, Gerrard, Lampard, Milner, Parker, Walcott, Wilshere, Young; Agbonlahor, Bent, Crouch, Defoe, Rooney.