Jermain Defoe Regains His Cherry

Bournemouth have announced the signature of Jermain Defoe on a three year deal after his contract expired at recently relegated Sunderland. After heavy speculation and then all but a confirmation of the deal last month, Eddie Howe has finally got his man.

There was a level of jeopardy behind the move in the past couple of days with Bournemouth reportedly not willing to pay the wage that Defoe was demanding. If you were to believe the gossip columns it was the same reason as to why West Ham did not look to persue a move and bring Defoe back to his first professional club.

That said although West Ham may have been the England international’s first professional club it was Dean Court in which Defoe really made his name when he scored 10 goals in 10 matches for Bournemouth. That goalscoring streak certainly announced the former Tottenham forward to the footballing world and from there he has never looked back.

With a perceived hold up in regards to Bournemouth and Defoe not being able to agree a wage it did give the impression that perhaps the South Coast club were being unnecessarily scrupulous in regards to their finances, if these two parties were not reunited then you could make sure that there would be no shortage of potential suitors for the 35 year old.

Realistically Defoe could do a job in a starting role for any Premier League outfit outside last seasons top seven, you could also make the case that he would be a decent addition to any of the top six but even at his age the forward feels he still has a lot to offer.

And it is Bournemouth that should now go on to reap the benefits after finally acquiring his services earlier today, there was believed to be late interest from Tony Pulis as the Baggies boss looked to bring Defoe to the Hawthorns but any hopes of usurping any deal have now been put to bed.

Defoe was one of only two shining lights last season at Sunderland, the other being Jordan Pickford who has departed for Everton in a British record transfer move for a goalkeeper. Add in the soon to be departure of Fabio Borini from Wearside and it does look pretty bleak for the Black Cats going into the next campaign.

The England forward will look to utilise this move in a bid to earn a spot on the plane for next summer’s trip to Russia for the FIFA World Cup. Last season he chipped in with 15 goals, matching his efforts from the year before. Should he repeat that feat again then Gareth Southgate will have little reason to leave him behind.