Regardless of how much Newcastle need a striker to help ease the burden on the young and injured options currently around the first team, and of how many goals he has scored in the Premier League, £7m for 31-year-old Jermain Defoe is a lot of money. Whether it is too much remains to be seen, but it seems strange that Newcastle would even be linked to the striker, even if he scored 11 goals in 16 games for John Carver's former side Toronto FC. He's not exactly within the usual boundaries for signing players, but the only thing that should really matter here is whether Newcastle would profit from his experience in real terms. Or in other words, whether he would be able to score the goals Alan Pardew needs to get his first league win of the season. Defoe is undoubtedly still talented, and he might be exactly the kind of prolific finisher that Newcastle's more impressive attacking play would profit from this season. But then £7m is a lot of money, and too much for a 31-year-old who only actually scored 47 goals in 135 games for Spurs. The player has been linked to a romantic return to under Harry Redknapp's wing at QPR, and that would probably make more sense. But if the alternative to signing Defoe is bringing nobody in, that changes things, and if there's room for negotiation, then Pardew would probably be smart to make a move. What do you think?
