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Article from 12th January 2009, for my school newspaper.
Jermain Defoe has finalised his transfer from
Portsmouth to Tottenham for a fee that will eventually result in a £20 million
pay-out from the London club. While the transfer fee for the England
international was £15 million, the add-ons have made the transfer fee rise to
well over £20 million.
Portsmouth had originally agreed a £15 million fee
with Tottenham, but the move was held up as the clubs negotiated over
the structure of the payments and potential accompaniments. These terms were
never announced, but a lot of rumours
have surfaced from both Tottenham and Portsmouth.
First of all, it is believed that money owed by Portsmouth for the transfers of
Pedro Mendes (now at Rangers), Younes Kaboul and Defoe’s transfer back in
January of last year have now been paid for, but within the new Defoe deal.
Mendes originally joined Portsmouth in a combined deal with Noé Pamarot and
Sean Davis worth £7.5 million. Kaboul joined for a fee believed to be around £4
million. The £20 million fee also includes the £4 million sell-on-clause that
was inserted into the fee when Defoe transferred from Tottenham to Portsmouth.
So Tottenham ended up paying their own clause.
Two weeks ago, Defoe said that he was ‘sickened’ by
the death threats that he had received over the phone from Portsmouth fans. "I
have absolutely no idea how they got hold of my number but some of the calls
have made me sick to my stomach". He was being left on the bench by manager Tony Adams. Adams insisted
the change was for tactical reasons:
“It was tactical. At the moment we are
struggling with balance. Away at Liverpool and away at Arsenal, I chose to keep
him on the bench.” However, playing Peter Crouch up
front on his own was not working. Defoe
seemed to be a player who was being forced out of the club.
However, if you read between the lines, Defoe was not
being forced out. If Defoe had simply handed in a transfer request, he would
not have got the compensation that he would get if he was merely sold. Not
getting money for a footballer is like Abu Hamza starting a glove puppet show.
Defoe, in my view, needed to be sold to join up with Harry Redknapp, for the
third time in his career, at Tottenham.
On Boxing Day, Portsmouth played West Ham United,
Defoe’s former team, in the Premier League. Portsmouth seemed to be cruising,
going 1-0 up within ten minutes through Nadir Belhadj. Jack Collison then
levelled after 20 minutes, but Portsmouth were still in the driving seat. On
the brink of half-time, Portsmouth got the chance to take the lead and Defoe
had the chance to score against his old employers. Peter Crouch was bundled
down by Lucas Neill inside the area, and referee Steve Bennett pointed to the
spot. Defoe stepped up. Any football fan would bank on Defoe sticking the ball
in the bottom corner and wheeling into the corner in celebration. Defoe ran up
and dragged the ball wide of Robert Green’s left-hand post. He didn’t even look
that bothered that he had just wasted a perfectly good chance. Defoe got
substituted in the 72nd minute for Kanu. Most people, who don’t want
to get in trouble with the FA, put it down to poor finishing. This may be a
little pessimistic of me, but it looked as though he wanted to miss it. This could be because he wanted to be left out
and be sold, then make it look like he’d been victimised. After the transfer
had been completed, Defoe defended the switch:
"People
are saying I spat my dummy out and just left. It's not like that, it was a
fantastic opportunity."
He even tried to
blame Tony Adams:
"Maybe
I thought he would try harder to keep me but he knows what he wants to do. He
wants to bring his own players in and he wants to play five in midfield and one
up front. He showed that against Liverpool and Arsenal when I didn't play and
he played Peter Crouch up front on his own. That's what he'll look to do
now."
Defoe was
presented to the Tottenham fans, for the second time, before the League Cup
semi-final match against Burnley, where Tottenham won 4-1. It has been reported
that the striker has agreed a lucrative 5-year contract on an estimated £60,000
a week. Portsmouth fans are complaining that Defoe left simply for the money;
with Defoe apparently receiving a pay rise of £10,000 a week. You can’t really blame
Defoe for that, but you can see where the Pompey fans are coming from.
Defoe’s debut
match was against Wigan Athletic on 11th January. Wigan won thanks
to a late Maynor Figueroa header. Defoe had a quiet game, showing his speed a
few times while easing past Titus Bramble, but apart from that it was a
frustrating game for the striker. Defoe played the whole 90 minutes, 53 of
which he played with Roman Pavlyuchenko and the rest with fellow England
striker Darren Bent.
I wish Defoe the
best at his new club; I really do, because, on his day, he is one of the best finishers
out there. But how he treated Portsmouth was not right, especially as they
saved him from his torrid time at Tottenham when he couldn’t get in the team, as
he tried to push his way past Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane. Those players
have now departed to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, and now
Defoe can go back like he never left. Tottenham should thank Portsmouth for
keeping Defoe warm for them.
