Daniel Levy’s quotes on re-signing Defoe for Tottenham in 2009 offer hope of repeat

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Jermain Defoe has already signed for Tottenham twice.

Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe

It remains to be seen whether Tottenham’s need for a striker will point them back towards Jermain Defoe this summer, but it is a potential deal fans are very keen on.

Defoe has netted 14 goals this season for struggling Sunderland, just five fewer than Harry Kane.

Spurs have signed Defoe twice before, bringing him in from Portsmouth in 2009 just a year after selling him.

There were though no hard feelings over his exit, with chairman Daniel Levy accepting Defoe’s ambitions to leave were purely because he wanted to play, and that he never wanted to lose him in the first place.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy

Levy told The BBC at the time that Defoe’s passion for the club helped bring him back: “We had previously been keen for Jermain to sign a new contract to extend his initial stay but at that point in time he felt it was in his interests to move on in order to guarantee himself more starts.

“I know the club is close to his heart and that he is thrilled to be back.”

The England striker spent nine years cumulatively for Spurs, before leaving in late 2013, again with a desire to test himself elsewhere after being left on the bench.

Now at 34, Defoe would surely view being on the bench as necessary to prolong his career, a fair trade for the opportunity to play Champions League football.

Tottenham even allowed Defoe back to train in 2015 after his spell at Toronto ended, where he briefly got the chance to work under Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino later told The Sun: “That moment wasn’t a situation to consider signing him — then he moved to Sunderland and now he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Looking back at the performance of Tottenham’s strikers who aren’t named Harry Kane, it looks a clear mistake on their part not to do a deal.

Daniel Levy’s willingness to bring him back once indicates he might just be open to doing so again, in full knowledge Defoe still thinks highly of the club.