Jermain Defoe close to Toronto FC switch
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[/one_fourth]MLS club Toronto FC are set to announce the £6 million transfer of Jermain Defoe from Premiership giants Tottenham Hotspur. A press conference has been slated for Monday and the deal is already thought to be concluded with Defoe signing a contract thought to be worth around £90,000 a week. The deal we will see Defoe stay at Spurs until March before moving to Canada for the start of the MLS season.
Defoe has seen his playing time at White Hart Lane increasingly diminish and the 31-year-old is excited at the prospect of joining his former team-mate at Spurs, and now head coach at Toronto, Ryan Nelsen. Defoe has only started 3 times in the Premier League this season and has made another 10 substitute appearances. New Spurs boss Tim Sherwood has preferred Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado over the Englishman and without a consistent run of games he has found it hard to break into the first team squad.
A natural goalscorer where ever he has played, Defoe should prosper in the MLS and his class, technique and eye for goal are sure to make him a quick hit for the Reds. Defoe started his career with West Ham in 1999 before he left the Hammers for Spurs in 2004, where he scored 43 goals in 139 league games. He would then move to the south coast of England and play for Portsmouth where he averaged a goal every other game. Defore would spend one year with Pompey before Harry Redknapp bought him back to Spurs for around £15 million. During his second spell at the club since 2009, Defoe has made a further 135 appearances bagging 47 goals.
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The striker has 55 senior caps for England including 19 goals for the Three Lions and he is desperate to be a part of the World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament in Brazil this summer. He has been in 3 England squads since the start of the new season but has featured just once, coming on in the 64th minute against Chile. Defoe has spoken in length with England manager Roy Hodgson about his proposed move and he has encouraged him to make the move stating that regular first-team action and goal scoring can boost his chances of making the squad.
But it doesn’t end there for Toronto as they are looking to take the MLS by storm for the start of the new season in March. Roma’s Michael Bradley has been heavily linked with the club and the Toronto Star is claiming that the midfield enforcer could also be set to make the switch to the Canadian capital.