Tottenham swoop for striker Defoe
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Jermain Defoe has left West Ham for London rivals Tottenham
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LONDON, England -- Tottenham have signed England Under-21 striker Jermain Defoe from Division One side West Ham for seven million pounds plus Spurs forward Bobby Zamora.
The transfer was the biggest of the final day of the winter transfer window, with West Ham confirming the move took place minutes before the window closed at 1700GMT.
Defoe, 21, was West Ham's top scorer when they were relegated from the English Premier League last season.
Zamora, who joined Spurs from for 1.5 million pounds from Brighton last summer, failed to score a Premier League goal for them. His only goal for the club came ironically against West Ham in a League Cup tie in October.
West Ham manager Alan Pardew said: "I am disappointed to have lost a talented player like Jermain, however I am delighted to have secured the services of another exciting striking talent in Bobby Zamora."
Chairman Terry Brown added they were forced to sell Defoe now -- or else lose out on gaining any money for him next season when his contract expired.
"We have offered Jermain a new contract on several occasions which he has turned down.
Coupled with the fact that he has only one more year on his contract after this season, we felt it was in the best interests of the club to maximise the potential transfer income which would only have declined had we let this opportunity pass."
Meanwhile, Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson will not now be joining Tottenham after the two clubs failed to agree a deal.
"With regard to speculation over Paul Robinson joining Spurs, I can confirm that preliminary discussions did take place between the clubs and the player but no agreement was reached," said Leeds chief executive Trevor Birch.
"Paul is looking forward to staying at the club and playing his part in the fight for Premiership survival."
Earlier on Monday, Leeds said that Robinson would join Spurs for a fee in excess of two million pounds ($3.62 million).
Robinson, who has four England caps, is regarded as the long-term future England goalkeeper and Spurs were keen to sign him as their only experienced keeper is 34-year-old American Kasey Keller.
Leeds are more than 80 million pounds in debt and chief executive Trevor Birch needs five million pounds to keep the bottom-of-the-league club afloat until the beginning of next season.
On Thursday, the players agreed to a wage deferral of over 20 percent, saving the club millions.
Leeds also confirmed that striker Michael Bridges has joined Newcastle on loan until the end of the season, with Stephen Caldwell moving in the other direction.
