Leeds United wanted to sign West Ham United striker Jermain Defoe before he joined Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur instead.
Jermain Defoe has admitted that he could have joined Leeds United before making a £7 million move to Tottenham Hotspur instead, speaking to Sky Sports.
One of the most naturally-gifted goalscorers in Premier League history is still going strong at the age of 37, hitting the back of the net on a regualr basis north of the border at Steven Gerrard’s Rangers.
Defoe is now just two goals short of hitting 300 at club level and Mr Evergreen will surely reach that milestone sooner rather than later.
The veteran hitman is perhaps best remembered for his two spells at Tottenham between 2004 and 2014 but, in another world, he could have been spending his formative years at another white-clad English footballing giant.
“I did get a phone call about Leeds when they had all those players there and were doing well, but when I got the Tottenham call I wanted to go there,” says Defoe, who moved a controversial switch from West Ham to London rivals Spurs midway through the 2003/04 campaign.
“I know my football so I started thinking about all of the great forwards that played for that club like (Jurgen) Klinsmann, (Gary) Lineker and Gazza (Paul Gascoigne).
“It just felt right.”
Considering that Leeds would finish 19th in the Premier League that very same season, descending into the Championship just two years after reaching the Champions League semi-finals, it’s fair to say Defoe probably made the right decision.
16 seasons later, the West Yorkshire giants are still stuck in the second tier. But, if the 2019/20 season can be completed, Marcelo Bielsa’s free-flowing Leeds side will surely end a long, long wait for a return to the big time.
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