Premier League - Defoe makes Tottenham return

Eurosport - Wed, 07 Jan 10:16:00 2009

Jermain Defoe said he never wanted to leave Tottenham for Portsmouth after returning to White Hart Lane in a £15 million deal.

2008-2009 Tottenham Hotspur Jermain Defoe - 0

England striker Defoe is expected to lead Harry Redknapp's attack, havingf been deemed surplus to requirements by then-manager Juande Ramos less than a year ago.

Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov have since been sold, while big-money summer signing Roman Pavlyuchenko has made little impact.

The 26-year-old was paraded on the pitch to fans before Spurs' 4-1 Carling Cup win over Burnley last night.

"It's great to be back and I'm looking forward to the challenge," Defoe said. "It's hard to put it in words, it's brilliant.

"A number of things [made me return]. Obviously everyone knows the manager was a major factor. My family still live in London and the fans were a factor too - you can tell by the reception I got.

"I never wanted to leave, but as a professional there comes a time when you think you ned to move on. I did in order to improve my England career."

Spurs boss Redknapp, who was in charge at Pompey when Defoe moved to Fratton Park, will still have money to spend in the January transfer window despite Defoe's £15m capture.

The structure of the deal to bring the 26-year-old back, after leaving less than a year ago, means Spurs are not parting with what they view as a huge cash sum to seal the striker's signature.

That will allow Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to continue negotiating for layers such as Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing, with boss Redknapp wanting "three or four players" to bolster his squad for the second half of the season.

"We have not really got a squad. If you look at my team (against Burnley), that was the best I have available," said Redknapp.

"We have not got any strength in depth or cover - if Gareth Bale gets a knock, there is no-one else to play left-back.

"It is a badly-balanced, put-together squad, in all honesty, from day one."

Ghana midfielder Stephen Appiah is on trial and could be one of several more fresh faces arriving during the transfer window.

Redknapp added: "I would like to get another three or four decent players in. I think we need to.

"We need a certain type here - we have got an awful lot of good little players, but we need more strength and a bit more power in the team."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. MAYBE, BUT YOU'VE JUST SENT THE "SAME OLD­ COMMENTS" TWICE..................MUST BE ONE OF­ THOSE STRANGE PORTSC"M SUPPORTERS THAT ARE ABOUT­ TO WATCH THE WORST CLUB ON THE SOUTHCOAST GO INTO­ RECIEVERSHIP.............HA HA HA HA HA HA­ HA..................................LOVELY.............­ ................

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 4:37PM

  2. Is ROCK AND ROLL drunk?Same old comments of him!BORING.

    From , on Thu 8 Jan 4:27PM

  3. Is ROCK AND ROLL drunk?Same old comments of him!BORING.

    From , on Thu 8 Jan 4:25PM

  4. hhahahahahah

    From jacknewtonm, on Thu 8 Jan 3:40PM

  5. BRILLIANT AND TYPICAL OF THE PORTSC"M­ FAITHFUL...............HA HA HA HA..............WE­ RAIDED YOUR CLUB PORTSC"M AND JUST LIKE YOUR­ GUTLESS FANS, YOU ARE LEFT WITH YOUR CHARITY SHOP­ TROUSERS ROUND YOUR ANKLES

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 2:34PM

  6. SEEMS LIKE POOR LITTLE PORTSC"M FAN "KEN­ C" IS REALLY AT WAR WITH HIMSELF......WHEN TOLD­ THAT PORTSC"M ARE GOING UNDER THROUGH DEBT AND­ THEIR GANGSTER BLOOD MONEY WILL BE LAUNDERED ELSEWHERE­ WHILST BEING STUFFED BY THE BEST SOUTHCOAST CLUB­ SOUTHAMPTON, HE SAYS "WHO­ CARES".............HA HA HA HA­ HA.....................

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 2:32PM

  7. SEEMS LIKE POOR LITTLE PORTSC"M FAN "KEN­ C" IS REALLY AT WAR WITH HIMSELF......WHEN TOLD­ THAT PORTSC"M ARE GOING UNDER THROUGH DEBT AND­ THEIR GANGSTER BLOOD MONEY WILL BE LAUNDERED ELSEWHERE­ WHILST BEING STUFFED BY THE BEST SOUTHCOAST CLUB­ SOUTHAMPTON, HE SAYS "WHO­ CARES".............HA HA HA HA­ HA.....................

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 2:31PM

  8. SEEMS LIKE POOR LITTLE PORTSC"M FAN "KEN­ C" IS REALLY AT WAR WITH HIMSELF......WHEN TOLD­ THAT PORTSC"M ARE GOING UNDER THROUGH DEBT AND­ THEIR GANGSTER BLOOD MONEY WILL BE LAUNDERED ELSEWHERE­ WHILST BEING STUFFED BY THE BEST SOUTHCOAST CLUB­ SOUTHAMPTON, HE SAYS "WHO­ CARES".............HA HA HA HA­ HA.....................

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 2:31PM

  9. i hope spurs beat man u with defoe scoring the winning­ goal

    From bayden, on Thu 8 Jan 1:06PM

  10. WHO CARES YOU SPUDS YOU WILL GET STUFFED IN BOTH CUPS­ BY MAN UTD AND WHILE YOU ARE TRYING TO SURVIVE THOSE­ AND THE EUFA CUP YOU WILL BE RELEGATED. CANT YOU JUST­ HEAR THE CHEERS FROM THE REST OF US WHEN THAT HAPPENS.­ ITS OFFICIAL YOU HAVE NOW TAKEN OVER FROM CHELSEA AS­ THE MOST HATED CLUB IN ENGLISH FOOTBALL, HA HA HA HA HA­ HA HA HA HA

    From KEN C, on Thu 8 Jan 12:23PM

  11. NO, IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE A PORTSC"M­ LOSER..................YOU FILTHY LOT, DON'T­ REALISE YOU CAN'T EVEN WIN ON­ HERE................GOING DOWN PORTSC"M...HA HA HA­ HA HA HA....................SPURS ARE VERY THANKFUL FOR­ DEFOE AND HARRY...........................AFTER TAXES,­ DEBTS AND WAGES FOR OTHER DEAD WOOD, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO­ PAY YOUR DIRTY COUNCIL TAX......HA­ HA..............................CAN THE LAST ONE TO­ LEAVE PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS AT FRATTON­ PLEASE......OH, WHAT'S THAT, IT'S ALREADY BEEN­ CUT OFF.................HA HA HA...................

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Thu 8 Jan 7:37AM

  12. Why was that an invalid comment? How can morons like­ Rock and Roll be allowed to write their illiterate,­ boring, bile. I used no swear words, no threats. Was­ it too clever for you to understand?

    From JO STALIN, on Thu 8 Jan 7:04AM

  13. UGO N I am not sure if your figure is correct, however­ there is a significant percentage of foreigners in the­ game there. Where is all the English talent? Is there­ any at all? From that amount of foreigners playing­ their game on UK soil, it shows hows that the English­ are not up to scratch.

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 8 Jan 1:38AM

  14. I'm an open minded girl from US, I'm interested­ in exotic things, photography, dating and sports...I­ have my photos on --- Tallhub Co m ---, I love tall­ guys!
    Do you love traveling and have some experience?­ Just find me out.

    From Xioasd S, on Wed 7 Jan 5:22PM

  15. ALL I ALL, HE WILL DRIVE THE FINAL NAIL IN­ PORTSC"MS COFFIN. WHICH IS IRONIC, SEEING AS THEY­ SENT HIM THE DEATH THREATS...............HA HA HA LAST­ LAUGH FOR DEFOE.....................YEAH, HE LEAVES,­ WHICH MEANS THE DEATH OF PORTSC"MS LUCKY­ PREMIERSHIP HONEYMOON..............YOU KNOW IT WAS ONLY­ TIME.............ONLY SAINTS WERE A GOOD ENOUGH­ SOUTHCOAST TEAM TO HIT AROUND 3 DECADES IN THE TOP­ FLIGHT.........HA HA HA

    From ROCK AND ROLL, on Wed 7 Jan 5:10PM

  16. Stephen you poofter. Up the spure's.....

    From badbois52, on Wed 7 Jan 4:07PM

  17. James, your a @#$%, Don't say anthing, if you­ don't no what your talking about.
    And your sissy­ gay picture.@#$%...

    From badbois52, on Wed 7 Jan 4:01PM

  18. 95PERCENT OF THE STRIKERS LISTED ARE FOREIGNERS,THAT­ KINDA SHOW THAT ENGLISH STRIKERS ARE ..... ISNT IT????

    From UGO N, on Wed 7 Jan 3:41PM

  19. im gay!!@#$% me plzz..

    From junaid.zaki, on Wed 7 Jan 3:24PM

  20. Defoe was signed as a goal poacher not be an out n out­ striker, we have Pavluchenko as r target man. So to be­ fair that list half the players are not even in the­ same catagory as defoe

    From Wayne, on Wed 7 Jan 1:57PM
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