Jermaine Defoe's move BACK to Tottenham may not be that much of a surprise - but details of the negotiations for the move may raise an eyebrow or two.  Defoe - who is being sued by former agent Sky Andrew - worked with his mum Sandra in getting the move back to White Hart Lane.  You see, while being sued, he cannot secure new representation and so any move he wants to make has to be done BY him.  Could this be the reason for the supposed 'flu' he had over the weekend when Portsmouth played in the FA Cup?  Perhaps.  Death threats might be a more legitimate reason though.

The deal for Defoe makes him the most expensive England forward in history with his total transfer fees amounting to over 52m US.  He cost Portsmouth 13.4m US last year and has also had 1.6m US paid for his services by West Ham (from Charltonm) and then another 10m US paid when he went to Spurs.  And because of the money Pompey still owed Spurs in that deal (and the sell-on fee), the Londoners got him for what they sold him for - 13.4m US.  What Pompey owed (8.9m US) and the sell-on fee (5.9m US) were written off by Tottenham.

There could still be a slight hitch in the deal - rule L19 of the Premier League board states no player can return to a selling club within a year of the sale.  Sources say though that the rule was put in place to stop clubs from abusing the loan system and it is not expected to cause a problem.

Having not played in a Cup match this season - Defoe is available for the club's Carling Cup 2nd legger versus Burnley on the 21st and the rest of their FA Cup journey (another reason for the flu Saturday - to avoid being Cup tied?) - they play Manchester United in the FA Cup 4th round at the end of the month.

"Harry Houdini" does it again....