The Sunderland manager crossed paths with Bournemouth’s Defoe earlier this year.
Jack Ross has told the Chronicle he would have tried to bring a former Sunderland striker back to the Stadium of Light had he known he would become the new Mackems manager.
Ross was sworn in as Chris Coleman’s successor in May – after he had shared a hotel with Jermain Defoe while abroad.
Defoe left for Bournemouth after Sunderland’s relegation from the Premier League last year, and would be a useful player to have around given the Mackems’ current shortage of natural goalscorers.
But his influence is still being felt by at least one of those, according to Ross.
“I never had the chance to work with Jermain Defoe although strangely enough he stayed in the same hotel as me on holiday this year,” said the Sunderland boss. “If I’d known I was definitely coming here maybe I would have tried to persuade him to come back!
“Everybody at the club speaks incredibly highly of Jermain not just as a player but a person too in how he conducted himself and they’ve got nothing but praise for how he was around the staff and his influence on the young players.
“Josh (Maja) speaks highly of that as well. I think you can see that in the way he (Maja) conducts himself now.
“You can’t underestimate the significance of working with someone like Jermain Defoe at such a young age. You can be massively influenced by players who play in a similar position to you in terms of how they conduct themselves and do things.”
Maja has scored seven goals in 11 games for Sunderland this season and was named the EFL Young Player of the Month for August, for which he was congratulated by Defoe, his former teammate, on Twitter.
And according to the Chronicle, Sunderland are keen to tie the teenager down to a new contract, once the departures of Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong are finalised.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
