Striker Jermain Defoe should complete his return to Tottenham Hotspur after the two sides agreed terms on an as yet undisclosed transfer fee. The fee is expected to be in the £15m range, a significant increase from the £7.5m that Pompey paid Spurs for Defoe’s services in 2008. The BBC
reports that the deal will also take into account monies owed to Tottenham by Portsmouth in deals for Younes Kaboul and Pedro Mendes so just how much Pompey will net remains to be seen. It should ease some of the financial strain the club is under though losing one of their main offensive weapons will be difficult.
For Tottenham, I have to wonder if this is the right move. Spurs have not been prolific in goal-scoring this season but I don’t know that they are lacking in options up front. They already have a solid starting pair in Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Pavlyuchenko started slowly but has shown signs of late that he is adapting to the Premier League. They also have Frazier Campbell on loan and one has to wonder what his future at the club is now that Defoe has arrived. Campbell and Defoe are similar players and Campbell has been solid for Spurs in his limited playing time, notching 3 goals and 4 assists. Defoe has been more prolific this season but is a few years older and has also had more playing time. Is Defoe worth the big cash that Tottenham are throwing out to land him? I don’t think so as a further strike against Defoe, at least for me, is that he is cup-tied having played in the UEFA Cup for Pompey.
I feel the real trouble with Tottenham has been in the midfield and at the back. For starters, I don’t think they have the right mix of players in midfield at the moment. Adding Stewart Downing, though that is looking unlikely at the moment, may not be the right answer as questions linger about whether his potential has been overestimated. Spurs already have enough cover at the under-performing midfield position with David Bentley, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas all fighting it out for the ‘honours’. If they are looking for a left-footed player in midfield, then Gareth Bale may be a reasonable answer. He does not seem to defend well enough to be a starting left-back at the Premier League level but he has the pace and skill going forward to make a decent left-sided midfielder.
The potential good news for Spurs fans is that free agent Stephen Appiah has been training with the club and is likely to sign a deal this week. Appiah is an experienced midfield presence that will bring loads of energy and positional awareness to the side. He’s a strong two-way midfielder and will add some defensive strength to the club if they sign him.
One area that Tottenham has failed to adequately address in the past couple of transfer windows is reliable cover at the back. They are especially vulnerable at centre-half with injury-riddled Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King seemingly unable to start consecutive games. That instability makes it hard to keep clean sheets and have a solid base upon which to build. Their first choice right-back Alan Hutton has also been injury-plagued and though Verdan Corluka has been good cover defensively, he is not as proficient on the flank as Hutton.
Questions still hover over Spurs keeper Gomes as well and though his play has improved, I don’t know that he instills a great deal of confidence in anyone right now. A move for an experienced keeper like Reading’s Marcus Hahnemann or a younger prospect (with some experience) like Manchester United’s Ben Foster might be on the cards. Even if Tottenham stick by Gomes, someone to push him for the number one shirt would be a good idea.
Something had to be done at Tottenham to shake things up as a run of one win in six league games leaves them above the relegation zone only on goal difference. The initial magic of “Harry Houdini” has worn off and now the hard work begins. The Defoe signing is a signal of intention that Spurs are not willing to stand pat and hope for the best with what they have. Will the Defoe signing payoff? If they avoid relegation then of course the answer will come back yes but let’s wait to see what other moves are made before judging this deal as a positive step for the club.
What are your thoughts on the signing?
what a terrible article…if you are going to write something like this please get your figures straight.
“A solid starting pair in Bent and Pav”….really? Do you ever go to the Lane?
If you did you would know they are far from a solid starting pair!
above comment very true and also woodgate has been far from injury plagued at WHL…this guy clearly is either a complete baffoon or has dementia and is talking forgetful gibberish
above comment very true and also woodgate has been far from injury plagued at WHL…this guy clearly is either a complete baffoon or has dementia and is talking forgetful gibberish
This article is utter rubbish. This person really doesnt know much about whats going on at Tottenham.
Note to self: dont bother reading any more epltalk articles.
Erm.. you obviously arent a Spurs fan are you? You have no idea what you are talking about. Solid paring of Pav and Bent? Sorry what? Pav had his first decent game for 5 months against Wigan, Bent can finish but rarely gets into good positions, he spatial awareness is poor.
You say JD isnt the right move? There are 30000 Spurs fans who have been singing his name every week since the day he left? A striker that can make a goal out of nothing is EXACTLY what we need, check out his scoring record, its brilliant.
Honestly, between you and Andy 'take a bow, son' Gray you 'so called' pro's habitually get it wrong. Its so annoying.
The person who penned this article has obviously never watched Spurs this season…Pav and Bent a solid starting pair….utter bollox.
1. “They also have Frazier Campbell on loan and one has to wonder what his future at the club is now that Defoe has arrived”. I suspect he’ll go back to Man U, don’t you think?
2. “Campbell and Defoe are similar players and Campbell has been solid for Spurs in his limited playing time, notching 3 goals and 4 assists”. Not REALLY solid now is it….
3. “Defoe has been more prolific this season but is a few years older and has also had more playing time”. There you go, you’ve answered your own question. Well done. 14 goals in 30 games for Pompey, 43 in 149 for us despite only starting about half of those. Do the math.
4. Muppet
“Pavlyuchenko started slow” i think you'll find it's “Pavlyuchenko started slowly”
I'm 12 years old, pal.
Poor show.
utter utter toss article, you should be ashamed of yourself! FRAZIER CAMPELL ISNT EVEN OUR PLAYER MUPPET, and if your seeing bent and pav as a 'solid' pairing you need to head down to specsavers
Ed, you are correct. My apologies for failing to catch that typo.
1. My reasoning was that in limited playing time Campbell has been creating chances for the team just as you argue Defoe did in limited playing time in his first stint at White Hart Lane.
2. The Telegraph has done the math for us all and Defoe is not head and shoulders above the other three:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagu…
I acknowledged that Campbell was an on-loan player in the article. I'll see you at specsavers.
i think that bringing jermain defoe back was a good signing since spurs were short of strikers (i doubt we would be as fortunate as everton were tim cahill forward and having some success in doing that)
gareth bale would be a pretty good left-winger. did anybody see him in the uefa cup game a few weeks back? he clearly has energy to burn
How can you write a story about Spurs' problems and not mention left back? You touched on Bale not being able to defend well enough, but BAE is a liability as well and that's as deep as left backs go.