Home » English Premier League » This Veteran Striker Could Solve West Ham United’s Attacking Woes – Go For It Slaven Bilic

This Veteran Striker Could Solve West Ham United’s Attacking Woes – Go For It Slaven Bilic

Jermain Defoe

Bringing Defoe Back? It Would Totally Make Sense For West Ham

Jermain Defoe continues to amaze everyone in the footballing world. The 34-year old, despite his advancing age, continues to be one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the Premier League.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man has been scoring at will for bottom side Sunderland this season and has been the only bright spot in a season full of gloom under David Moyes. Defoe has scored 14 times this season in the Premier League from 28 appearances and has also registered 2 assists.

His excellent form coupled with an injury to Tottenham striker Harry Kane meant that the veteran attacker earned a recall to the England National Team for the World Cup Qualifier game against Lithuania. The striker hadn’t been involved with the Three Lions setup for three years now, but his goal-scoring prowess didn’t go unnoticed by the current England manager Gareth Southgate. Defoe made the most of the opportunity that was afforded to him, by scoring the opener against the minnows as England ran out 2-0 winners.

While his performance against Lithuania pleased many, it appeared to have especially been noticed by the fans of West Ham United who took social media to urge the Hammers to bring Defoe back to the club.

The 34-year old had spent his formative years with the East London club having signed from Charlton Athletic academy back in 2000 as a 16-year old. He was a member of the Under-19 team that won the Premier Academy League title in 1999–2000, before spending a season away on loan at Bournemouth.

Defoe finished as West Ham’s top scorer in the 2001–02 season despite being primarily used as a substitute. He scored 14 goals in 39 league and cup appearances. However, he could not help his team survive relegation in the subsequent campaign and later submitted a written transfer request to leave the Hammers.

The club, however, rejected his request for a transfer and Defoe was asked to stay put for the 2003-04 season. But a series of disciplinary issues and a refusal to sign a new contract thereafter, saw West Ham accept an offer from London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in January 2004, following which he made the switch to White Hart Lane after making 105 appearances for the Hammers in which he had scored 41 goals.

His journey from then on is well-documented as he rose meteorically in the Premier League to establish himself as one of the deadliest strikers in England during his peak. He moved to the Major League Soccer in 2013-14, only to return to Sunderland in the winter window of the 2014-15 season. He has continued to dominate the Premier League since his arrival, netting 36 strikes from 84 games for the Black Cats in the last 2 years.

West Ham United are severely depleted in the centre-forward department and found the goals hard to come by in the early parts of this season. Andy Carroll remains the only fit and available option for manager Slaven Bilic. Loan signing Jonathan Calleri has struggled and so has the young Ashley Fletcher, who arrived from the Manchester United academy. This issue is something that Bilic will surely be looking to address in the summer window.

Defoe has proved that he can still perform at the highest level and will definitely bring in a galore of goals to the Olympic Stadium. With Sunderland certainly heading for the drop, it wouldn’t prove too hard to convince the player to consider a move. The fact that there is definitely some unfinished business with the Hammers will appeal emotionally to Defoe. If an opportunity presents itself for the East London club to sign Defoe at the end of the season, they should go all out to sign him.