By Chris Wright
It’s been in the offing for well over a week now but, as of this afternoon, Jermain Defoe is a Sunderland player.
Defoe has signed for Gus Poyet’s merry rag-tag band on a three-and-a-half-year deal, with Sunderland reportedly paying Toronto FC a whopping £14million for the privilege…
HERE IT IS: #WelcomeJermain #ScarfPic @IAmJermainDefoe pic.twitter.com/xCrrs4wxP0
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 16, 2015
As part of the deal, perennial punchline Jozy Altidore has left Wearside and joined Toronto after contributing pretty much diddly squat in 18 months at the Stadium of Light.
As for Defoe, doesn’t giving a 32-year-old striker who is already well past his best an £80,000-a-week, three-and-a-half-year contract – the biggest of his career to date – seem a bit, y’know, desperate?
The man’s managed a paltry 3 goals in his last 30 Premier League appearances – that’s an almost Altidore-esque strike rate for crying out loud!
Known for scoring his goals in incredibly isolated spurts, relegation-flirting Sunderland must be praying they’ve timed this one right.
That said, you watch him go and end the season as the league’s top scorer now.