Defoe hands in transfer request

West Ham striker Jermain Defoe has handed in a transfer request following the club’s relegation to the Nationwide League.

Defoe scored 11 goals for the Hammers in a season which ended in disappointment yesterday.

In a statement released through his agent to the Press Association, the 20-year-old England Under-21 international said: “As much as I love West Ham United I feel that now is the right time for me to move on in my career.

“This is very much a career decision.

“I am very ambitious and hungry to achieve at the highest levels of the game for both club and country.

“The club staff and especially the fans are very dear to me and have been unbelievable in the early part of my career.

“It will always be a special place for me to play.”

Defoe did not break his duck this season until the 3-2 win at Chelsea at the end of September but hit a rich vein of form as the Hammers' form improved.

He failed to net in the club’s final six games as their fight for Premiership survival proved unsuccessful but is regarded as one of the club’s most saleable assets.

Defoe was one of several players expected to be in demand from other top flight clubs, with Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Trevor Sinclair, Frederic Kanoute, Glen Johnson and goalkeeper David James among the others.