Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) has confirmed the acquisition of English international striker Jermain Defoe, who is currently playing in the English Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur.The North American club announced that Defoe will remain with Spurs until Feb. 28 when he’s expected in Toronto. The 31-year-old has played in England all of his career up to now, but his move to Canada may make it hard for him to make the England roster for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil this summer.
It’s believed the transfer fee for Defoe was somewhere between $9-15 million. In addition, Tottenham has agreed to fly to Toronto to play an exhibition game at BMO Field on July 23.
Tim Sherwood, who was recently appointed Tottenham manager, said the move is a wonderful opportunity for Defoe and it’s one the player wants to pursue at this stage of his career. Sherwood added, “He has played a big part in the club for many years and we all know he will give his best until his last minute in a Spurs shirt.”
Sherwood believes his squad is deep enough to carry on once Defoe leaves for Canada, as there are numerous attacking options to choose from. He feels the team has enough players who can put the ball in the net and didn’t want to stand in Defoe’s way as he departs for the next chapter of his career.
Tottenham has a minimum of nine more games to play before Defoe leaves. They have Premier League games to play and are also involved in this season’s Europa League tournament.
Defoe said Tottenham means a lot to him and he intends to play his heart out for the club and the fans until he takes his last kick for the team.
He remarked that he’s had an amazing time with the franchise and the fans have been fantastic to him ever since he arrived. He added that the chance to move to Canada with his family is one he wanted to explore and his he will be just 35 years old when his contract with the MLS team expires.
Defoe spent his youth career with Charlton Athletic from 1997-99. He made his debut as a pro in England with West Ham United in his hometown of London when he was 16 years old in 1999. He stayed with the team in 2004 and was also sent out on loan to Bournemouth for 29 games.
From there, he joined Tottenham until 2008. Defoe moved to the south coast of England to play with Portsmouth in the 2008/09 season before heading back to Tottenham.
In a total of 533 career club games Defoe has scored a total of 219 goals with 142 of them coming with Tottenham. He has nine goals in 20 appearances in all competitions with Spurs this season, but hasn’t scored in 12 Premier League games as of yet.
He has also represented the England national team 55 times so far during his career and has scored 19 goals for his homeland.
