Stan Collymore has claimed that Jermain Defoe would have loved to have joined Tottenham this summer.
The 34-year-old recently suffered relegation with Sunderland to the Championship, but despite the north east club finishing bottom of the table, he was one of their standout performers.
Collymore believes Defoe would have been a viable backup to Tottenham’s main striker Harry Kane had he picked up an injury at the start of the forthcoming Premier League campaign.
Kane missed ten matches during the recently concluded season because of various knocks but he still managed to score over 30 goals in all competitions.
However, Collymore has claimed that England international Defoe, who has two years left to run on his Sunderland contract, will move to Bournemouth this summer.
“Harry Kane missed ten games last season and still scored 30 goals,” said Collymore as posted by Boyle Sports official Twitter account. “But if something happens in the first two or three games [to Kane] then they will have to rely on Son, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Vincent Janssen.
“The first three, no problem, over the last few seasons they have filled in very, very well and scored goals when Harry Kane hasn’t been available. They have two added issues [next season], one playing at Wembley and the second one is Champions League football which is going to be a drain on resources.
“For me, I would love to see Spurs… I mean it’s a pity, Jermain Defoe people talk about he’s getting a little bit old now, could he do it, would he set the right tone at Spurs that are very youthful. But, he has bags of experience.
“I think as a backup striker he would have loved to have gone back to Spurs, they wouldn’t have had to burst the bank to get him, as it is he has gone to Bournemouth.”
Kyle Walker may leave but @StanCollymore has a look at how Tottenham can reinforce their impressive squad in the summer #transferwindow! pic.twitter.com/bk92YjhBc5
— BoyleSports (@BoyleSports) June 10, 2017
Over the course of the season, Defoe played 37 league matches for the Black Cats, scoring 15 goals for David Moyes’ side.
By contrast, Spurs’ backup striker Vincent Janssen struggled to perform following his big-money move from AZ Alkmaar last summer.
The Holland international only found the back of the net on two occasions in the league despite his side finishing the season as runners-up to Chelsea.
Defoe is a popular figure at White Hart Lane where he has made 358 appearances in all competitions, scoring 139 goals for the club.