Article by Nathan DurecWith reports over the past day that Spurs striker Jermain Defoe had agreed to a multi-million dollar deal with MLS club, Toronto FC, the Canadian team has stepped in to set the record straight. In the span of 24 hours, rumours were ablaze in England and Italy with two separate reports, the one on Defoe, and another linking Genoa’s Alberto Gilardino to Toronto.
The believed deal for Defoe was said to include a transfer fee of $10.3 million (£6 million). News reports state that Defoe would earn $8.07 million a year in a four-year deal. This is about $3 million more than the deal that Clint Dempsey signed with the Seattle Sounders and would make Defoe the highest paid player in the league.
While Toronto FC hasn’t outright denied the deal, they had stated that reports are “inaccurate.” This has put even more rumours out, with the Canadian club linked to Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o and even one of Spurs’ other out-of-contention striker, Emmanuel Adebayor.
If this is a move that ends up happening, one must question the reasoning behind it. For Toronto FC, they get the high profile Designated Player signing they’ve been looking for. However, surely questions will be asked as to whether they possess anyone to supply Defoe. An all-out striker such as Defoe requires a good line of supply and this has been a problem for Toronto.
For Defoe, it would be hard to see this as anything but a cash grab. Toronto FC has never qualified for the MLS playoffs, is not in contention for next year’s CONCACAF Champions League, and has been one of the disappointing additions to MLS over the past 10 years. It would also be a final nail in Defoe’s England World Cup aspirations.
Nothing will happen until the January transfer window. However, Tottenham may begin to look to shop Defoe around if current goal issues continue. It would be disingenuous to say Defoe is a part of this problem given his UEFA Europa League contributions. But if Spurs do look for a move to push their attacking prowess, Toronto FC may become an option then. Question is, would Defoe take it? At this stage of his career, I’m beginning to think he might. It would be up to Toronto FC to ensure that he is successful or just another in a long line of disappointments for the club.
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Toronto FC's problem has been the lack of a consistent goal scorer and Defoe has proven himself to be just that. The concerns around service for Defoe are not founded as the current strikers simply are not good enough to score. If you attend a TFC match you can clearly tell what is missing from the team.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the MLS is not at the standard of the Premier league, Defoe would actually be making the first team every match which is not happening at Tottenham. If this continues Defoe will not be selected to the England squad for Brazil 2014 so playing (although at a lower level) with TFC will increase his chances of Brazil.