Transfer Rumours Safc beat off 10 premier league rivals to secure the leagues 8th all time highest scorer for Jozy

A snippet from the Echo.

SUNDERLAND fans are right to be excited about the imminent arrival of Jermain Defoe – as the striker will fire the Black Cats to Premier League safety.
That’s the view of ex-Sunderland loanee Danny Rose, a former team-mate of Defoe’s at Tottenham Hotspur.
Defoe’s capture is expected to be confirmed by Sunderland today, with the England international set to join in a deal which would see Jozy Altidore go the opposite way to Toronto FC.
Rose – who impressed on Wearside during his loan spell from Tottenham between 2012 and 2013 – has no doubt the 32-year-old still has what it takes to score goals regularly in the Premier League.
And the left-back believes Defoe will make the difference for Gus Poyet’s side, who currently sit 16th in the Premier League having scored just 18 league goals this season, and face Rose’s Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Rose told talkSPORT: “I’m a bit in shock really that he has made the move, but we wish him all the best and we hope that he’s not playing at the weekend.
“I was a little bit shocked (he went to MLS), because if you know Jermain, he’s as fit as ever, he keeps himself in incredible shape and he loves scoring goals.
“I reckon that he’ll help Sunderland pick up their form and he’ll keep them up this year.”

 

A loan striker as well and Gus to get the best out of Rodwell, Giacch and Alveraz and we will be fine. Simple this footy.

 

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Eurosport Transfers @eurosportmoves · 6m6 minutes ago
SKY SPORTS NEWS: Jermain Defoe has passed his medical and is at Sunderland to complete his transfer from Toronto.

Nearly there.

 

Andy Cole - 36 when he signed
Louis Saha - 34 when he signed

Both older than Defoe! Slightly different signings IMO

FWIW I don't like Defoe but he will get my full support playing for us

 

He isn't one for the future. He's one for now!!! And my god do we need him right now!!!

He needs the right partner though. Anyone think Mandron could do the job? If not we may need to jump back into the pool for another striker.

 

Might be a decent shout that BM. Haven`t seen that much of him but even in the few minutes he had against Liverpool I thought he showed he could be useful. Game time`s the thing of course.

 

Full support as always MBC, still not my cup of tea after kicking Gordon tho. If we get a good 18 month its got to be better than Jozy's last 18.

 

@Somebodys pinched my sombrero so just ignoring me then? Ignorant as well as a hypocrite? Fine fella. Sums you up nicely.

 

Come on. Where is he?

How long does it take him to sign his name ffs?

Hope he runs faster than he bloody writes.

Not getting impatient or owt like.

 

I think it's all hinging on the Jozy side of the deal now mate. It'll happen, it's just a question of WHEN not IF anymore.

 

Do we have to wait for his medical?

I bet the twat fails it just for spite.

 

unless Dirty Harry takes him to a casino

 

Jozy will still be in the air if he only flew out early this morning, just hope he doesnt miss the contract and sign the table

 

Got a chuckle that one.

 

Sunderland’s capture of Jermain Defoe could just be the best piece of transfer business done in the January transfer window, ever.

The Black Cats have somehow managed to swap Jozy Altidore, a striker who has scored one Premier League goal for them in 18 months – and two in two-and-a-half seasons in English football – for a forward who is the ninth highest goalscorer in the history of the competition.

In other words, they have swapped a player with Toronto who, with the best will in the world, had become a joke on Wearside – albeit a fondly thought of one – for the closest thing you can get to guaranteeing goals in English football.

To make that deal happen, they will pay Defoe around £20k-a-week more than they were paying Altidore.

I have seen some people describe the impending signing of Defoe as a sign of desperation. I even get the impression Sunderland are being mocked.

The critics, the snipers and the smirkers have suggested the transfer is a ridiculous gamble, by a desperate club, that will achieve little more than swell a 31-year-old’s pension pot.

Well, the latter part of that statement is true. Defoe will benefit enormously financially from the move, but while you may have been told he will earn £80,000-a-week for the next three-and-a-half years at the Stadium of Light, that is not his basic weekly wage.

For Defoe to earn that headline-grabbing figure he will have to win every single bonus available to him and as Sunderland haven’t won a trophy since 1973 and haven’t played in Europe since then either, that’s unlikely.

Then again, if he does activate those clauses, I doubt there is a Sunderland player or employee who will have time to whine about the waste of money in the middle of the delirious celebrations that would follow the club’s most successful campaign in a generation.

Every transfer is a gamble, of course, but I don’t think anyone can deny Defoe does not improve Sunderland’s squad. There were plenty of other clubs interested in signing him, including Crystal Palace and QPR, for a reason.

He is the type of player Sunderland have missed since Darren Bent ran off to join Aston Villa three years ago. He adds another dimension to the team offensively, whether he is starting games or coming off the bench – and he has scored more goals as a sub than anyone else in English football.

Defoe is a poacher; a natural born goalscorer. He is a finisher. He is the type of player who can do very little for 89 minutes, but still pop up with a vital goal in a vital game. Sunderland’s major problem under Gus Poyet has been scoring goals.

Defoe’s arrival should go some way to remedying that, just as it should make sure they do not have any major relegation fears between now and May.

He is a completely different to the other strikers at the club. Steven Fletcher is a good player, but he has been playing as a lone frontman under Poyet in front of a midfield that puts defensive solidity above creative flair.

Connor Wickham is a decent prospect, but has much still to prove. The arrival of Defoe will give him someone to learn from, as well as competition. The immediate impact may mean he is dropped. It’s up to him how he responds. It’s the sort of test he needs to overcome.

Normally, I’d worry that a young English striker is being deprived regular first team football by someone coming to the end of his career, but not in this case.

Wickham has had plenty of chances, he has started virtually every game this season, and has not convinced he is developing as he should. He does not deserve to be guaranteed a place in the side.

Defoe’s best years may well be behind him, but the fact is, in the modern era, players play longer. A striker in his 30s, is no longer automatically in decline.

Defoe will have to prove he is not just after one last, lucrative pay day. People will question his hunger and determination – as they did very loudly during his time in the MLS with Toronto – if he has a barren spell, but hopefully that experience in Canada means he returns to England with a point to prove.

There is a risk Defoe is more interested in his wage packet than performances, that a three-and-a-half year contract is a comfort blanket as he winds down his career, but that is where the manager comes in.

Poyet and Defoe share an agent – Aaron Lincoln – which is probably another reason the player has ended up at the Stadium of Light and not returned to his native London. There is less chance they will fall out as it is not in the agent’s interest to let that happen.

Finally, Defoe will not score goals on his own. He normally needs others to create chances for him, which may mean Poyet has to shelve his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation and play two up front. Systems, though, can change. Good managers adapt to the resources at their disposal.

Poyet gives the impression he is a good manager and if his side do create chances, Defoe will convert far more of them than he misses.

Sunderland have signed a player who makes them better and they have managed to do it without paying a transfer fee in the most difficult window. Defoe for Altidore looks like the deal of the decade.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...e-the-best-January-transfer-signing-ever.html

 

Yes, one major obstacle out of the way over last couple of days. I never thought Jozy would go against Klinsmann's advice to stay in Europe. But just in the last 48 hours, Klinsmann has told the U.S. press if the situation can't be resolved in Europe then a move back to MLS is "totally cool with me". I think it'll go through a lot quicker and more smoothly now.

 

The reporter should have done his homework. Defoe could have remained in the MLS on £80,000 a week

 

Made me laugh out loud in the office that! Woke everyone up!!

 

What reception would Altidore get if he "does a Borini" on Toronto and stays here!!!

 

Nooooooooooo!