Former England international Jermain Defoe retired, ending his 22-year-long playing career; the 39-year-old has not won many major titles in his playing career, but his 325 goals over the years have made him a legend.
Jemayne Defoe, like Lampard, Joe Cole and Leo Ferdinand of the "Golden Generation", debuted in west Ham's youth system. He made his official debut with the Hammers in 2000 and scored 41 goals in 105 games for West Ham in four seasons, scoring an outstanding goal rate as a young striker. In January 2004, he was recognized by mid-range team Tottenham Hotspur for £7 million. During the four and a half seasons at Tottenham, Jemayne Defoe had a superb performance, leading the team to become a regular european player, and with the team won the team's last "big game" title to date - the 2007-08 League Cup. (He left the club in January 2008 but contributed to Tottenham's journey to the League Cup.)
He then moved to Portsmouth, but played only one season in total, returning to his 'hometown' Tottenham after scoring 17 goals in 36 games. After returning home, Jemayne Defoe delivered more efficient goals, leading several European rounds; in the 2010-11 season, Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League at one point, when Jemayne Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, Rafael van der Vaart, Peter Crouch, Luka Modri and Niko Kranj ar Gareth Bale and others formed a strong attacking line to play the most successful and pleasing season for Tottenham in the past 20 years.
In 2014, the then 32-year-old Jemayne Defoe intended to return to the United States to go to Toronto FC, but handed over a superb stat of 11 goals in 19 games, allowing him to get the "black cat" Sunderland beckoning and return to the Premier League. In Sunderland, the young Jemayne Defoe delivered 34 Premier League goals in three years, and later moved to Bournemouth, where he still had a good performance.
In 2019, he accompanied his old friend Gerald to the Glasgow Rangers of the Soviet Premier League, helping the team with his experience. He scored 32 goals in 74 games to lead the way to regain the Soviet Premier League title, while he also joined Gerrard's coaching staff to pave the way for his future. However, the good times did not last long, Gerald was invited by Villa to pass the file, in exchange for Van Bronckhorst to coach, because of the relationship of "one son and one courtier", the Dutch star quickly drove Gemaine Defoe away from the coaching team, and then he was not willing to be "persecuted" and left the team to join his hometown Sunderland.
In League One, Jemayne Defoe played just seven games and chose to retire when the season was still not over. Although he has won few titles over the years, the Premier League Cup and the Soviet Premier League championship are the only major trophies he can take out; but he has scored 162 goals in the Premier League, ranking ninth in history. Jemayne Defoe's shooting skills and grasp are quite top-notch; although he was born in the golden generation, his brilliance seems to be inferior to that of his contemporaries such as Rooney and Lampard, but his steady goal score and low-key strength also make him a legend.