"Joe knows who he wants to bring in and we know what we can afford if certain transactions are made. Fortunately, these things are happening very quickly in the transfer window and that's good for us.
"The deal for Bent is £2.5 million, rising to £3 million, and we believe it is good value and, in today's market, maximum value for the player.
"It's very sad. Football is a harsh place as Darren's been with the club since he was a kid and would have stayed if we'd have been successful in getting promotion but we failed at the last hurdle sadly.
"There are four out-of-contract players. As you know Drissa Diallo and Pablo Counago have not been offered new contracts but we're hopeful the four who have been offered new contracts - Wilnis, Magilton, Kuqi and Miller - will all sign up again.
"We want them to sign up again. We've offered them what we believe is good and fair money and, hopefully, they'll sign. They are free agents and they will look around and we'll see in a few weeks' time."
Speaking of the chances of Tommy Miller staying at the club, Bowden added: Sunderland and maybe Leeds as well are in for Miller. I saw Tommy a couple of days ago and he was non-committal.
"He's taking his time to make his mind up. He's got an offer from us, I know he believes it to be a good offer for The Championship and he's going to take his time to decide whether his future is with us or up north."