The midfielder turned pundit believes Spurs should try to engineer a shock White Hart Lane return for the 34-year-old.
Robbie Savage has said that Tottenham Hotspur need to strike a shock deal to bring Jermain Defoe back to the club this month if they want to seriously challenge to win the Premier League title, writing in his column for the Mirror.
Spurs currently sit in third place in the league table, seven points behind leaders Chelsea after their superb 2-0 win over the Blues on Wednesday.
Dele Alli scored twice in that game to take his tally for the season to 11 in all competitions.
That is just one goal behind top scorer Harry Kane, but aside from the star England pair, no other player has managed more than six league goals for the club so far this term.
One big disappointment in particular has been big-money summer signing Vincent Janssen, who has netted just once in the league since his arrival from AZ Alkmaar.
That has led to questions about what happens if Kane gets injured or begins to misfire, but Savage thinks there is one rather unexpected solution.
The former midfielder suggests that if Mauricio Pochettino’s side want to ensure they stay in contention for the title, they should bring former hero Defoe back from Sunderland for a third spell at the club.
Savage wrote for the Mirror: “If they want to make a statement that they mean business, Spurs should go all-out to bring Jermain Defoe back to White Hart Lane for a third stint.
“Why? First of all, they are going to need back-up for Harry Kane. If he was to suffer another injury, we have already seen that £22 million summer signing Vincent Janssen isn’t up to it as his replacement. Or not yet, at any rate.
“Secondly, there is no point in making a massive £40-50m bid for a marquee signing this month, because Europe’s top strikers will want to play in the Champions League – where Spurs needlessly came up short before Christmas.
“And third, the fans would welcome Defoe back with open arms. Although he is 34, he is a proven goalscorer… West Ham have had a bid for Defoe rejected by Sunderland already, but why would he want to play in mid-table for the Hammers when he could help Tottenham win the title?”
Defoe certainly has a great deal of history at Spurs. He left boyhood club West Ham for their North London rivals in a controversial move in 2004 and spent the vast majority of the next decade at the club across two spells, scoring 143 goals in 363 appearances.
At the age of 34 he continues to show lethal form in front of goal for struggling Sunderland, netting 29 times in his last 55 appearances.
A third White Hart Lane move would certainly be a shock at this stage, but Defoe clearly still has all of his goalscoring prowess, and could thrive in a Spurs team much more used to creating chances than Sunderland.
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