Sunderland have rejected a £6m bid from West Ham for striker Jermain Defoe, Sky sources understand
Salut! Sunderland pays relatively little heed to rubbishy transfer window speculation.
In the past, much or maybe most turned out to be untrue, no more than the manipulations of clubs and agents or the imaginations of football journos.
But these days, clubs – some clubs, then only sometimes – are more open about their wishes and their dealings. We already know Slaven Bilic fancies bringing Jermain Defoe back to West Ham. We know Crystal Palace, absurdly located in one of the worst places to get to in London, even from London. want him, too.
These are my messages more fully:
1 Jermain Defoe: you are not paid to be a Sunderland supporter but you know what adoration you inspire among those who are SAFC fans.
And it is with us that you have been able to remind the world how good you are. Make sure they pay you appropriately but stay, at least least long enough to see us through a crisis that you have made more likely we can overcome. Later on, come back as chairman.
2 Slaven Bilic: read back over your own quotes about JD being up there with the best strikers in Europe – you were talking about movement, but 11 goals so far this season suggests a lot more. Unless you, Karren and the Davids want to be regarded as laughing stocks, multiply your bid by at least seven if only to give a fabulous player the respect he deserves. Oh, and still fail.
3) Ellis Short: yep, you’re a shrewd businessman and I’m not. You’re rich and I am not. You have every reason to resent the way your money has been wastefully spent by your managers (and, remembering PDC, the more ludicrous of their “advisers”). But don’t cut off nose to spite face – if you’re after to sell, losing Defoe won’t help a great deal.
And think on: before your time, of course, but wouldn’t we once have got £6m for Gareth Hall? Using today’s crazy valuations, but paying respect to results, any discussion on Defoe should start at £30-40m unless the seller is desperate to get rid …
QED really when you try …
We sell Defoe and we won’t deserve to stop up .
In truth, to Sunderland Defoe is priceless. There is a strong argument to say that he is the best striker in the Premier League at present, given his goals per chances ratio. Who could we possibly attract, or afford, to replace him?
The main worry [ about Defoe ] is the possibility of a long term injury, because we have no-one even remotely as good.
If I were our manager, I would be trying to bring in 2/3 reliable players in January, if necessary, out of contract players, who can give short term back up during our injury crisis [ I think that is not too strong a term ] I believe, with a fully fit squad we could, just, avoid relegation.
At present however, we have 4/5 long term injuries to key players, and IMO we must reinforce this month if we hope to survive the drop.
But don’t sell Defoe.
Darryl Murphy went for £5m and Gestede is going for £6 m. By that yardstick Defoe is worth at least double and for SAFC of course worth far more than that.