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

Massive image rights, he's the golden boy of the usa, nike tv adds and that

 

I've supported Altidore as much as anyone ....... but I'm so relieved he's gone.

I almost cried & laughed at the same time when he missed his tap-ins

 

I'm quite happy with Colback tbh. Must have been your best player?

My honest thoughts on Defoe. From what I remember of him, he's a great player and one I would have loved at Newcastle a couple of years ago. His last season at tottenham, he scored once. I don't know if he couldn't get into the team, or what happened. Might have a good season and a half left in him, I doubt if it'll stretch to three and a half. Could be an expensive gamble for the last couple of years but one things for sure, he's better than what you've got and your clubs ambition is to be applauded on the move.

 

I think the contract is irrelevant tbh.

If he's playing, scoring and enjoying himself he'll see it out.

If not he'll engineer a move to one of the London clubs and will still command a fee.

It's a win-win situation imo.

 

We're in the wrong game mate.

 

No-where near our best player mate, defoe's last stint at spurs was very breif, he only played twice scoring once, personally i agree the deal should be applauded, 32 is nowt in this day and age, averages 1 in 2 or 1 in 2.5 his whole career on all levels, this in a straight swap for jozy ****ing altidore is almost another miracle

 

SUNDERLAND are hoping to confirm the capture of Jermain Defoe today after effectively sealing a straight swap deal with Jozy Altidore for the England striker.

Defoe passed a medical in the North East yesterday after agreeing to return to the Premier League with Sunderland, following a breakthrough in negotiations with MLS outfit Toronto FC late on Tuesday night.

The move is expected to be rubber-stamped today, in time for Defoe to feature against Spurs at White Hart Lane on Saturday – after the 32-year-old has ironically spent the past week training with his former club.

There have been indications emerging from Toronto that Sunderland are paying a £6million transfer fee for Defoe, while recouping a portion of that investment from the sale of Altidore to the MLS itself, who are then expected to franchise the Black Cats flop to the Canadian club.

However, the Echo now understands that Sunderland have not splashed out ANY extra money to land Defoe than they will receive for Altidore.

Sunderland have essentially just conducted an exchange of strikers, rather than a player-plus-cash deal.

The Black Cats have made a big investment on Defoe’s wages though, with the 55-time England international due to become the club’s highest earner.

The contract is thought to be markedly lower than the £80,000 per week which has been mentioned in some reports, but it is a measure of chairman Ellis Short’s continued support that Sunderland have beaten off competition from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, Hull and Leicester to land Defoe on a big-money deal.

Defoe only joined Toronto on a four-year contract 12 months ago, but he has been eager to return to the Premier League and was looking for a permanent move, rather than a loan switch.

Head coach Gus Poyet hopes he will provide the answer to Sunderland’s attacking woes, with the Black Cats netting just 18 goals in 21 Premier League outings so far this season.

Sunderland have also been able to remove Altidore’s wages from the books; ending the US international’s miserable 18-month spell at the Stadium of Light where he has netted just one Premier League goal.

Toronto have not bought Altidore outright, due to the franchise system in operation in the MLS.

The MLS itself will pay for Altidore’s transfer fee, before the league gives him to a club using an allocation process.

However, Toronto are ranked higher than both New York Red Bulls and Portland Timbers – the other interested parties for Altidore – in the allocation process and are confident that the 25-year-old will be playing for them when the MLS season gets underway in March.

Certainly, sources in Canada believe Toronto will have had some indication of Altidore’s arrival before sanctioning Defoe’s departure.

Altidore, the subject of loan interest from French side Lille and Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen, has started just two Premier League games for Sunderland this season and the Black Cats have been eager to offload him this month.

 

Ha. That was said tongue in cheek mate.

To say it's pretty much a swap for Altidore is certainly good business for you lot.

 

Straight swap for Alitdore is brilliant business if true.

Screw the wages even if they are 80k a week. Altidore was probs on around 30 to 40 k a week, so we have basically got a proven English premier league goal scorer for the cost of his wages, minus Altidore's, over 3 years (6.5 million pounds). Sweet deal that.

Just need to have a system that allows defoe to score. Up to Poyet now.

 

There has been no official confirmation yet, but it appears Jermain Defoe is a Sunderland player. Well, he certainly seems to be under that impression, anyway.

Defoe trained with Sunderland on Wednesday, and afterwards he spoke briefly to the Daily Mirror, saying:

I felt so sharp. All that hard work has paid off. I can't wait to start scoring goals for Sunderland.

Everybody knows how much I love English football and I still feel that I have a lot to offer.

People might look at my age, but I have always looked after myself and I hope I can show that with my performances.

It's unusual for a player to speak about signing for a new club before the official confirmation, but the message seems pretty clear - Jermain Defoe is a Sunderland player.

The details on the deal right now are quite sketchy. Forget talk of a £14million fee. The fee is Jozy Altidore. It's either a 2-and-a-half-year deal or a three-and-a-half-year-deal, depending on which newspaper you read, or perhaps more likely the former with the option of an extra year if all goes well.

Anyway, it appears all there really is to do now is sit back and wait for the obligatory scarf shot.

 

I like this a lot

 

As I kept saying yesterday, the figures don't really matter to us, the club wouldn't have done the deal if they couldn't afford it, however if this is true then you have to applaud Ellis, Maggie, Congerton and Gus. Not only have we offloaded a major flop, we've also acquired a proven EPL striker who seems very keen to prove he can still cut it in the big league. All this for a minimal outlay, fantastic bit of business, ****ing fantastic.

 

Can I just say - not a single "quote mark" anywhere? So no direct quotes?

If it's a straight swap for Altidore then it's a no brainer

 

Looks like a good deal to me we shall see when the pice is released.maybe our old favorite UNDISCLOSED

 

True this ^. Still waiting for those magic words though just to be certain.
Obviously there is still that little niggle of the `what`s he got left in the tank` variety but certainly very optimistic. At least we`ve heard of this bloke.

Without sounding greedy, one more big name signing would send the message out loud and clear we are stepping up.

 

I honestly don't think we are finished yet mate, might not be a big cash outlay signing, but I fancy us to use our 1 remaining loan slot.

 

Forgot about that

Still like to see a proper signing though. I`ve made it clear many times on here I`m not enamoured of the idea of improving other teams players but, if it suits us, ok.

 

Me neither mate, look at the mess Bruce got us into changing out half the team each season, it doesn't work long term. As a short term fix when you're in the clarts it can work, I don't think we are just yet and Gus is looking to build a team. I expect another signing as I still think we lack creativity. But Who?

 

Either a good link between the back and the sharp end or a Borini type to free up Wickham to do his proper job?

 

There are quotes they just havnt transferred mate