The Daily Mail reveals that they sold Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth because they were afraid that they might have to face a repeat of the Sol Campbell situation. Spurs recognised that they were making no progress with contract negotiations, with Defoe wanting far more first team opportunities before he committed to signing an extension. Defoe has 18 months left on his current contract, and looked to be heading down the Sol Campbell route, letting his contract end and walzing out on a free transfer, a situation that arguably hurt Tottenham more than any other club, with Campbell being the fulcrum of their side at the time and deciding to move to bitter rivals Arsenal of all places. A Tottenham statement read:
“The club reluctantly agreed the transfer of Jermain in light of there being less than 18 months left on his contract,”
It is somewhat fitting that Defoe will now be playing in the same side as Campbell at Portsmouth, but will Defoe be missed as much as Campbell was when he left? We doubt it!