Jermain Defoe is in superb physical shape ahead of his move to Rangers, according to a Sky Sports journalist who knows him well.
The broadcaster’s north-east correspondent Keith Downie reported on his personal Twitter account after Sky broke the news of the striker’s imminent loan move to Ibrox that he’s “never seen a player look after himself physically as well as he does”.
Downie insisted that Defoe, who turned 36 in October, is “still razor sharp” despite having only a bit-part role at Bournemouth this season.
Jermain Defoe is not your average footballer – what he did for Bradley Lowery and his family while at Sunderland and since he left tells you all. I’ve also never seen a player look after himself physically as well as he does. He’s still razor sharp.
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) January 3, 2019
Rangers agree loan move for striker Jermain Defoe. https://t.co/SiaLBq5Hau
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) January 3, 2019
OPINION
Downie is correct. Defoe is far from your average footballer. It is remarkable that he is still playing Premier League football, albeit infrequently, at his age, especially given that he is forward who’s game has always been based on his pace, mobility and predatory touch in and around the box. Nearly all of his elite compatriots of around the same age are retired and delivering opinions from the punditry booth or, in the case of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, taking their first impressive steps in management. Defoe has outlasted them all, due to an insatiable hunger for scoring goals and an appetite for the conditioning and hard work needed to be in peak condition in the second half of his 30s. It is exciting for Rangers fans that Downie, who covered Sunderland when the striker was scoring goals for fun a few seasons back, makes the huge claim about Defoe that no footballer prepares better. Certainly, the former Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham striker is lean and retains his explosiveness around the box. That doesn’t happen by accident.