Spurs face up to life after Defoe

Tottenham 2 Crystal Palace 0

Has the former West Ham starlet fulfilled the promise he showed as a teenager when he scored a record 10 goals in 10 successive games while on loan at Bournemouth? Is he leaving Tottenham at the wrong time with Tim Sherwood’s new 4-4-2 formation able to give Defoe more playing time than former manager Andre Villas-Boas? Will playing in the MLS be the killer blow for his chances of representing England at the World Cup next summer? And will Spurs miss out on a Champions League place if they fail to replace Defoe this month, as Sherwood insists is the case?

Defoe has rarely been guaranteed a starting place, going back to the days when he competed — mostly unsuccessfully — with Robbie Keane for a place alongside Dimitar Berbatov.