PORTSMOUTH – England striker Jermain Defoe has received threats from Portsmouth fans angry at his apparent desire to return to Tottenham barely a year after his arrival at Fratton Park.
‘Some of the calls have made me sick to my stomach,’ Defoe, 26, told the Sunday Mirror.
The forward is believed in line for a White Hart Lane return – although Manchester City have also been linked with him, as have Aston Villa and Juventus.
‘I have absolutely no idea how they got hold of my number but some of the calls have made me sick to my stomach.
‘I have reported it to officials at the club, but cannot accept that it is coming from people with a balanced state of mind,’ said Defoe.
‘It has infuriated and upset my family and left me wondering what on earth possesses people to do things like that.’
Defoe, who missed the holders’ FA Cup draw Saturday with Bristol City, said he wanted to go at a meeting with manager Tony Adams and executive chairman Peter Storrie last week.
Adams insists Defoe will only be allowed to leave Fratton Park for the right price amid media reports the club want 20 million pounds for a player that former manager Harry Redknapp signed for less than half that.
Since winning the FA Cup at Wembley against Cardiff in May Portsmouth have lost Redknapp to Spurs while owner Sacha Gaydamak has put the club up for sale and now Pompey face a battle to keep Defoe.
Redknapp said earlier he believed Portsmouth would want some 20 million pounds for the player he signed for less than half that amount only last January.
* Meanwhile, Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb has slammed Tottenham for making what he termed a ‘derisory’ bid for England winger Stewart Downing.
‘It is a derisory offer,’ he told the News of the World, adding that Spurs were guilty of hypocrisy when it came to prising players away from their clubs.
‘Who on earth do they think they are? They bleated away when Dimitar Berbatov left for Manchester United in the summer – but they sold at top dollar.
‘Then they want to snatch other players for derisory offers and try to unsettle players. That is what has happened here. Their offer is a joke.
‘Why would we sell our best players to our nearest rivals? Stewart is going nowhere,’ said Lamb.
Boro are understood to want 15 million pounds (16.5 million euros) for Downing, 24, with Spurs opening their bidding at only 11 million.
– Nampa-AFP
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