Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp confident striker Jermain Defoe will improve this season
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp revealed he was prepared to give England international http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jermain-Defoe-c18359 another chance at White Hart Lane. The Spurs boss was confident the 28-year-old striker could go on to have a successful season with the club in the new English Premier League season.
Defoe was plagued with injury last season and only went on to score 9 goals for Tottenham Hotspur in all competitions, with four of those goals coming in the Premier League. He made a total of 30 appearances the entire season, most of them as a substitute.
He was initially linked with a Tottenham Hotspur exit in the summer transfer window, but Redknapp revealed he had plans for Defoe. The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 forward has been visiting a fitness coach in France and has done well in the pre-season, which seems to have convinced Redknapp to keep him for the new season.
Redknapp said while speaking to reporters:
“Jermain did not have the best time of things last season and had problems with injuries.
He only scored four league goals and he is a 16-17 goal a season player, no question.
But he has looked fit and he has looked really sharp in pre-season and a lot of that is down to his own efforts.”
He continued:
“He went over to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 to see a fitness coach and that really does seem to have helped him a lot.
I am looking for him to have a big season for Tottenham. He is really flying at the moment.”
Defoe returned to White Hart Lane in the winter transfer window of 2009 from Portsmouth for an estimated fee of £15.75 million on a long term five year deal. He made 10 appearances in all competitions and found the back of the net four times.
He improved drastically in his full season at the club since his return, making 43 appearances and scoring an impressive 24 goals. After various hat-tricks throughout the season, Redknapp claimed Defoe was undoubtedly the best finisher in the English Premier League.
Unfortunately, Defoe suffered poor fitness and poor form last season due to which he fell out of favour at White Hart Lane. He picked up an injury while on international duty with England and was sidelined for two and a half months after that.
He returned in December and was given a red car in his first start of the season for Tottenham Hotspur. Despite being somewhat regular after having recovered from his injury, Defoe was unable to make his place back to the starting line-up.
This is mainly why he was rumoured to be heading towards a Tottenham Hotspur exit, especially since the Spurs had an excess of strikers. However, Redknapp has made it clear he wishes to retain the services of Defoe and will most likely off-load http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Peter-Crouch-c29741 in the current transfer window.
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