Defoe departure may cost Spurs top four Premier League spot
Published:Harry Redknapp has already managed to convince Luka Modric that his future lies at White Hart Lane and a similarly important talk may be needed with Jermain Defoe if Tottenham harbour serious hopes of finishing in the top four this season.
A loan move could await Defoe in January as he has found first-team opportunities hard to come by at Tottenham, playing second fiddle behind Redknapp’s chosen partnership of Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart.
This has also seen Defoe fall alarmingly down the pecking order for England and at present it seems 99 per cent likely that he will not be a member of Fabio Capello’s 23-man squad next summer.
Therefore, a loan move may be vital for Defoe to restore his position in Capello’s plans, with Everton reportedly one of a number of clubs interested in sealing his signature.
Defoe’s predatory instincts and Premier League pedigree cannot be doubted and he has still managed five goals for Tottenham this season, despite only making five starts.
The latest of these was a decisive strike in the 3-1 win at West Brom and Defoe currently betters the majority of other Premier League strikers with a ratio of a goal every 111 minutes this season.
Having a striker of Defoe’s calibre waiting in the wings could be essential to Spurs if they want to finish in the top four this season and so keeping him happy could be one of the biggest tasks awaiting Redknapp in the coming months.
Van der Vaart does suffer his fair share of injuries and is likely to miss more important games over the course of the season, meaning that Defoe could be a vital bit-part player over the remainder of the campaign.
Tottenham’s odds are 4/7 to finish in the top four and allowing Defoe to leave could be one of the costliest mistakes Redknapp makes this season.
