Aston Villa striker Darren Bent believes the "crazy" money spent on Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll has made him something of a forgotten man.
Up until the final day of the January transfer window, Bent's club-record £18million move to Villa from Sunderland was poised to be the biggest deal of the month.
But that figure was dwarfed by Carroll's £35million switch from Newcastle to Liverpool and the £50million Chelsea spent on prising Torres away from the Anfield club.
Reflecting on the transfer window, Bent said: "It was mad. More so because of Carroll's transfer to Liverpool because he has played half a season in the Premier League and gone for £35million, so it is a bit crazy.
"Someone like Torres is proven in the top-flight and in my opinion is the best striker in the country, and if he goes for £50million you kind of think fair enough.
"It was a bit crazy, but it is the way the game is going at the moment. The money is going up and the stakes are getting raised.
"People have got to do what they've got to do to get players in and get results."
The striker, who has scored two goals in five games for Villa, as well as finding the net for England since his move from Sunderland, admits the pressure is on him given the fee Villa paid.
But in light of the sums of money spent on Torres and Carroll, he feels as if he has now stepped out of the limelight.
Speaking to the official Villa website regarding his fee, Bent said: "It definitely does add pressure.
"Obviously for me it is pressure I have dealt with before because I went to Spurs for big money.
"But I think my transfer fee has obviously now been eclipsed by Torres and Carroll. A lot of people seem to have forgotten about my transfer now, so I've just got on with it.
"At the same time there is pressure whatever the transfer fee and especially when you go to a club and you want to do well.
"If anything you put pressure on yourself to do well."
Bent, though, could not be happier with life at his new club, saying: "Everything has been positive. I definitely made the right decision.
"It's been great to get amongst the goals too, that's certainly been important. When you join a new club, it's always important as a goalscorer to get off the mark.
"That first goal is vital, so for me to do that on my debut helped me settle down.
"If you go one, two, three games without a goal it does wear you down. But thankfully I managed to get one in my first game and I want to build on that now."
