da dobrowin： According to a recent report from The Sheffield Star, Jermain Defoe could be set for a move away in the January transfer window. The Englishman currently plays his football at Premier League side Bournemouth and has done so since leaving Sunderland for the South Coast in 2017, but a lack of regular football at the Vitality Stadium has called his future at the club into question ahead of the New Year.
da brdice： And reports suggest that Championship high-flyers Sheffield United are keen on signing the 36-year-old, as should Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis, who would transform his goal-shy side into perennial netters with the addition of the £2.25 million-rated Premier League ace (as per Transfermarkt).
The Breakdown
Ultimately, while the Teessiders are sitting pretty in second place in the Championship table after 17 games of the campaign, their tally of 19 goals from those matches is the least of any team currently in the top seven of the division.
And while Boro’s defensive record is the best in the second tier, given they have shipped just eight goals so far this term, it’s plainly obvious that more goals are needed to ease the pressure on the backline, especially when the games start coming thick and fast in the second half of the season.
And with Britt Assombalonga the only man at the Riverside Stadium to have netted at least five times this term, it appears as though greater reinforcements are needed in the final third of the pitch – Defoe’s arrival would go some way to bolstering those ranks.
The 36-year-old may well be entering the twilight of what has been a stellar career, but his goal-scoring record over the years has been simply exceptional given he’s bagged 163 times in the English top-flight, doing so for a variety of different teams.
Be it West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth, or Sunderland, the Englishman has proven to be mightily prolific in front of goal, with his current spell at Bournemouth the only time he has struggled for goals, but that can at least be pinned down to his struggles for regular football.
After all, it was only a matter of years ago in which Defoe almost led a woeful Sunderland team to safety by netting 15 times in the 2016/17 Premier League season – there is still a lethal striker in Defoe just waiting to be unleashed in the second half of the season.
And Middlesbrough should be willing to give him that opportunity, as Pulis’ men are very much in promotion contention after a fine start to the season, but their lack of goals could let them down as the campaign wears on – that wouldn’t be the case with Defoe in their ranks though.
As such, the addition of the 36-year-old in January would transform Pulis’ goal-shy side into perennial netters, and thus a team very much on their way back to the Premier League.
Middlesbrough fans… what do you think? Let us know!