These 3 Clubs Must Surely Make A Move For Jermain Defoe If The Striker Becomes Available
Jermain Defoe has been making the headlines ever since he made a goal-scoring return to the England National Team after three years, when he scored the opening goal in the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over Lithuania in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers at the Wembley Stadium.
The 34-year old earned a call back to the national team owing to his supreme form in the Premier League, combined with an injury to England’s first-choice striker Harry Kane. Defoe has scored 14 times this season for his club but hasn’t been able to pull his team away from the bottom position of the league standings.
Reports have emerged stating that the Black Cats could let their star striker leave for free in the summer if they get relegated. According to Daily Mail, Defoe has a clause in his contract, that allows him to leave the Wearside club for free if they get the drop-off to the second tier at the end of the season.
Sunderland are currently stuck at 20th place in the league table and are seven points off the safety zone. With the threat of relegation looming large, it looks certain that Defoe might be on the way out. With him being available for free, there will be no shortage of clubs to sign him up. Here, we pick out three clubs that should definitely make a move for the veteran forward at the end of the season if Sunderland get relegated.
Stoke City
The Potters find themselves at 9th position in the league and look set for another mid-table finish as it has become the norm in recent years.
However, if Mark Hughes wants to take his team one step further, Defoe could be the man to help him in his cause. Stoke don’t have the most dazzling attacking lines, with Peter Crouch and Wilfried Bony their main striking options along with January signing Saido Berahino.
Crouch isn’t getting any younger and Bony is looking like a spent force and will be heading back to Manchester City at the end of his loan spell. Berahino is a different case altogether. Someone with so much promise, his career has gone downhill over the past season and he looks far from his best in his short stint with the Potters.
With the club in such situation, Defoe could go on to solve the dearth of quality strikers in the squad for Stoke and the fact that he will be the first-choice striker will also appeal to the Englishman as he hopes to make it to the England squad for FIFA World Cup next year.
West Ham United
The Hammers and Defoe do have unfinished business, with the striker leaving the East Londoners back in January 2004 when the club got relegated to the second-tier. He burst onto the scenes and made his name at the Upton Park early in his career.
However, there could be a reunion on the cards in the summer as West Ham have been chasing Defoe since the January transfer window. The Hammers reportedly made a £6 million bid in January, only for Sunderland to reject the bid.
Slaven Bilic has Andy Carroll as his only striking option right now, after having seen Simone Zaza arrive in the summer and leave in the winter window. Two other additions to the strike-force in the summer window, Jonathan Calleri (on loan) and Ashley Fletcher have struggled to make any sort of impact. Diafra Sakho has spent most of the season on the treatment table and with Enner Valencia having been shipped out on loan, there are question marks over his future at the club.
Defoe could prove to be the ideal man to give a lift to the Hammers in the attacking third and could form a deadly partnership with the likes of Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass, and Andre Ayew.
Liverpool
This one seems unlikely to happen, but Liverpool would do well with the quality of Defoe in their attacking ranks.
The Reds have scored the most number goals in the Premier League this season and have one of the deadliest attacks in the competition. However, they have had to rely heavily on Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for the goals, with none of the attackers contributing much.
Daniel Sturridge has struggled for fitness and whenever he was fit, he looked clueless in the setup that Liverpool operate under Jurgen Klopp. Divock Origi hasn’t had the best of times leading the line and Danny Ings has spent the season on the sidelines due to injury. With serious doubts over the future of Sturridge at Anfield, Liverpool could be in the market for a striker.
It seems like they don’t have to look any further than Defoe to strengthen their ranks. The veteran is a proven goal-scorer in the league and will provide the Reds with an alternate dimension in attack and will be available on a free transfer as well, allowing Klopp to use the funds to sign more players.
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