PLAYER PROFILE

Jermain Defoe

Position: Forward

Height: 5'7

Weight: 10st 4lbs

Date of Birth: 1982-10-07 Beckton, England

Jermain Defoe

Having burst on to the national conscious thanks to his blistering displays for the England under-21's, Jermain Defoe was soon challenging Di Canio and Kanoute for a regular place in the Hammers' front line.

Defoe spent a large chunk of the 2000/01 season at Bournemouth building up his experience. It was a decision that dismayed him to begin with, but after breaking scoring records at the second division club and hitting the headlines with a series of outstanding displays, Defoe soon recognised the loan spell as a good idea.

Back at Upton Park and making more headlines, Defoe's presence in the squad was a major boost to Glenn Roeder who knows he has a front man that is almost guaranteed to score goals. Defoe is a striker in the Ian Wright mode with a shoot on sight policy and electric pace.

However, the Hammers could not rely on his goals alone to keep them in the Barclaycard Premiership, and he made few friends by putting in a transfer request the day after they were relegated. Arsenal and Manchester United were both believed to be interested, though neither ever made a bid.

Nevertheless, he stayed with the club in the First Division until the 1st February 2004 when he joined Tottenham Hotspur for £7million.

Arguably Tottenham's brightest star in the 2004/05 season, Defoe played 44 games and scored 22 goals, including a hat-trick in a 5-1 thrashing of Southampton. It's a fantastic strike-rate for a player so young and shows just how confident and assured Defoe is.

This season also saw him impose himself on the England set-up. He gained 10 caps, scoring once and will surely be at the forefront of Sven Goran Erikssen's World Cup plans.

As if to prove his worth, Spurs were quick to confirm Defoe's long-term future at White Hart Lane after London rivals Chelsea were repotedly interested in the talented youngster. He signed a four-year contract in April which will keep him at the club until 2009.

His 2005/06 season proved eventful as he impressed on the domestic front, scoring nine times in thirty-eight appearances.

This, however, was not enough to impress England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, who decided to omit Defoe from his team to travel to the World Cup, filling the extra spot with a midfielder rather than a striker.

Defoe had the last laugh, however, when the decision to take only four strikers, one the inexperienced Theo Walcott, backfired spectacularly and England lost to Portugal at the quarter final stage.

Defoe went on to continue his fine form in 2006/07 as he scored 18 goals in 29 starts.

However, he struggled to find regular football the following campaign and joined Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee in January 2008. He was an instant success at Pompey, though missed out on their FA Cup win because he was cup-tied.

After Harry Redknapp left the club to join Spurs though, Defoe was soon on his way back to White Hart Lane to link up with him for a third time. The deal was completed in January 2009.