Tottenham Hotspur were on the verge of agreeing a deal with Charlton Athletic to sign Darren Bent last night. They are believed to have agreed to pay about £13 million rising to a possible £16 million for the England forward. The imminent capture will break Tottenham’s transfer record of £11 million, which they paid to Dynamo Kiev for Sergei Rebrov, the forward, seven years ago, and pose questions about the future of Jermain Defoe.

Bent is believed to be willing to accept a weekly salary of about £48,000, considerably less than the £75,000 he was offered by West Ham United. The 23-year-old turned down a five-year contract at Upton Park last week after West Ham had agreed a fee of £16 million plus Hayden Mullins, the midfield player. Bent is thought to have had concerns about the relationship of some of the West Ham players with Alan Curbishley, the manager who signed him for Charlton two years ago.

Charlton have been keen to conclude a deal for Bent because they need money to fund about seven signings, as they seek to win promotion to the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt. That posed a problem for Liverpool, who are keen on Bent but have four other preferred targets.

Bent has scored 31 goals in 68 league appearances for Charlton after joining from Ipswich Town for £2.5 million and would be expected to improve his strike-rate against the top sides with better players at White Hart Lane.

He scored only once in the eight meetings with the top-four sides in his first season in the Premiership, but he fared better last season and scored two goals in four matches against the same sides.

It is a reflection of the lack of top talent and an inflated transfer market that Bent will cost nearly twice the amount that similar forwards have been sold for in recent season. By comparison, Andrew Johnson scored 11 goals in 32 league appearances last season after he moved to Everton from Crystal Palace last summer for £8.6 million. Peter Crouch scored 17 goals in 64 league games after he moved to Liverpool from Southampton for £7 million two years ago.

Bent’s expected arrival will raise uncertainty over the future of Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov and Mido, three of the four frontline strikers already at White Hart Lane. Tottenham may be forced to accept about £10 million for Defoe because the England forward is unwilling to extend his contract – which has two years left to run. Defoe, who has turned down a move to West Ham this summer, would probably consider a move only to a top-four side. Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have showed interest, but they have other targets.

There are strong rumours that United will make a fresh attempt to sign Berbatov. At 26, the Bulgaria forward may feel that he needs to make a move to a club with an established Champions League reputation within the next two years.

Tottenham have told Berbatov that he will not be allowed to move this summer, but he is thought to have a gentlemen’s agreement to leave for a large fee at the end of next season, if Tottenham have not qualified for the Champions League.

Tottenham are in talks about selling Mido, the Egypt forward who they have offered to Fulham and Portsmouth, and are close to selling Anthony Gardner, the defender, and Lee Young Pyo, who is wanted by Udinese.

The North London club are also open to offers for Hossam Ghaly, Danny Murphy, Wayne Routledge and Teemu Tainio, the midfield players.