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Keane and Mido for most of the campaign but was still at the club to score his 50th goal for them on Boxing Day 2006. However, the arrival of the classy Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent put further speculation to Defoe's future at the club and in January 2008, after months of being left out of the side, Defoe joined Portsmouth for 9 million.

Defoe re-joined Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth, the manager who first signed him nearly a decade ago. Again, Defoe scored on his debut getting the equaliser in a 1-1 draw for Portsmouth against Chelsea and scored 8 goals in 12 appearances for Portsmouth in the 2007/2008 season. He then went on to scored 7 goals in 18 games during the 2008/2009 season in a side which was struggling. It was in November 2008 that Redknapp left Portsmouth to join Tottenham, Defoe's former club and at the start of January 2009, the striker moved back to London.

Defoe re-joined Tottenham for around 16 million, making a nice return for Portsmouth on a player that was only with them for a year. He scored 3 goals in his first 4 games back at the club before picking up an injury. Later on in January, Spurs also re-signed striker Robbie Keane from Liverpool, allowing Defoe to reform his former successful partnership with the Irishman. In the first month of his return, Defoe helped Spurs reach the Carling Cup Final for the second season in a row with a goal against Burnley in the semi-finals.

Although his international career was quite for a couple of years, especially with the form of striking counterparts Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey, Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Defoe is definitely a preferred choice for England manager Fabio Capello and in recent months in looks like he is getting back on track. If he stays clear of injury, the future looks bright for Defoe, playing under his favourite club manager and back in the plans of the national team.

Learn more about this author, Marc Steel.
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