Jermain Defoe reaggravates groin injury, has he played his final game for Toronto FC?
Jermain Defoe's first season in Toronto is coming to a winding, wheezing close. Will the same be said about his MLS career?
Defoe has been ruled out of Toronto FC's game on Saturday against Montreal after reaggravating the groin injury that kept him off the field for much of August and all of September. It also leaves his status for TFC's regular season finale at New England on October 25 in doubt.
"It was obviously inflamed again and he didn’t feel like he was good to go with it. It’s an accumulation, an overuse type of injury. When it gets inflamed, it starts to be debilitating and he’s feeling it enough that he doesn’t feel like he can go," said head coach Greg Vanney.
Defoe got off to an electric start in Toronto, scoring 11 goals in his first 13 games while also adding two assists. However, his last goal came in mid-July and the groin problem has been a persistent issue since then. After missing nine of TFC's 10 games in August and September he returned October 4 and has looked off in the three games in which he's played, including missing a penalty in a critical 1-0 loss to Houston.
The playoffs are still a slight mathematical possibility but the glow from the early days is gone and the rumours that the 32-year-old striker is eyeing a move back to England won't go away. The front office acknowledged they declined a big-money offer for Defoe before the EPL transfer window closed. Two London clubs, West Ham and Queens Park Rangers, are expected to battle for his signature when the transfer window reopens in January. Defoe has repeatedly insisted that he's happy in Toronto but despite still having three years left on his contract can't predict what the future holds.
"I think he’s a true professional," said Vanney. "And at the end of the day, he doesn’t feel 100 per cent, he doesn’t feel he can give what he’s capable of giving and therefore he needs to get right."
With Toronto FC set to miss the playoffs and Defoe's season likely to end on the sidelines, all signs points to his TFC tenure ending there too.
