Juventus ‘plot January move for Jermain Defoe’
Serie A giants Juventus are said to be readying a move for Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe when the transfer window opens for business in January.
The 27-year-old has been in strong form for both club and country and netted a hat-trick against Bulgaria in England’s opening UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying match on Friday. Those three goals, coupled with the two he struck against Young Boys in a UEFA Champions League play-off match, has seen clubs around the continent sit up and take notice of him.
Juve are believed to be one of those outfits and according to Itasportpress, they are said to be looking at securing the services of Defoe in January. With his contract with Spurs running until 2014 and him being one of the most important players at his club, it is believed that Juve would have to offer the White Hart Lane side 16 million euros for them to even consider allowing Defoe to leave for Italy.
Defoe started his career with Charlton athletic when he joined their youth set-up at the age of 14 before making the switch to West Ham United’s youth academy two years later. After rising through the ranks with the Upton Park outfit and winning the Premier Academy League title with the Under-19 side, he made his senior debut in a League Cup match against Walsall and scored the only goal. He went on to make 105 appearances in total for West Ham and scored 41 goals.
In January 2004, Defoe was snapped up by Spurs for an initial fee of six million pound. He made 177 appearances and scored 64 goals before moving to Portsmouth in January 2008. With the south coast outfit, he scored 17 goals in 35 games.
Defoe returned to Spurs in January 2009. In his second spell so far, he has netted 28 times in 53 games. The striker has also played 44 times for the senior England team and has scored 15 goals for his country.
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