Slaven Bilic is ready to make an emotional plea to sign Jermain Defoe.
The Sunderland striker is about to become a free agent with Bilic wanting to bring Defoe ‘home’.
The 34-year-old started his career at West Ham but left under a cloud in 2004 after handing in a transfer request the day after the Hammers were relegated the previous season.
At least half a dozen Premier League clubs are expected to make offers for Defoe with Bilic sending out a very simple message.
According to a report in The Sun the West Ham boss said: “Defoe is a very interesting player. Even those big clubs are thinking about him as a back-up, or whatever. But this is his home!”
Bournemouth and Crystal Palace have been heavily linked with Defoe whose Sunderland contract contains a release clause if the club are relegated to The Championship.
After returning to the England squad Defoe is keen to ensure regular first team football ahead of next summer’s World Cup Finals in Russia.
Davie Moyes has spoken out about his frustration about that clause and said that he would never have agreed to that clause.
