Jermain Defoe is set to sign in favour of Bournemouth, according to reports. The England international was with Sunderland but the Black Cats got relegated in the just concluded campaign which made Defoe trigger this move. The Southcoast side will sign him on a free transfer on a three years contract and the player is expected to earn a whopping £20m in this stipulated period.
Defoe plied his trade for Bournemouth at an earlier stage in his career. He donned the Cherries jersey in the 2000-01 season and had a very fruitful outing with them. He incidentally has rubbed shoulders with Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall who are now managing the club from the dugout.
Despite his age, Defoe has remained at the peak of his fitness for most of the season. The 34-year-old is also in the good books of England manager Gareth Southgate and is expected to be in the national squad for the upcoming games.
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur frontman is likely to trigger a clause which will allows him to move from the club after they got demoted to the Championship. Sunderland missed the opportunity to cash in on him as the forward was signed for a single year only.
Despite Defoe scoring 15 goals Sunderland couldn’t manage to survive in the Premier League. They have performed pretty ordinarily this season despite the heroics of Defoe and Jordan Pickford. Defoe could be the first of many, as the likes of Pickford and Fabio Borini are set to leave the club. Sunderland need to manage their financial equation in order to raise funds as they have to clear a major chunk of the wages before they start their Championship campaign.
Bournemouth performed brilliantly under the tutelage of Howe and have secured the status for another season in the Premier League having finished in the ninth position. Eddie Howe has been an ardent admirer of Defoe and the two will have a chance to renew their friendship.
It was Sam Allardyce who brought Defoe to the Stadium Of Light in an attempt to rescue their season. But ‘Big Sam’ couldn’t resist the lucrative offer of being the England manager as he often said that it was a dream job for him. Allardyce’s departure landed David Moyes at the helm of Sunderland who had to be blamed partially for their dismal performance.
Howe might unleash Defoe to the starting lineup from the start of the next season and we could see a different Defoe this time at the Dean Court.
