Is Jermain Defoe REALLY leaving Sunderland? Echo writers James Copley and Joe Nicholson deliver verdict

Here, Echo reporters James Copley and Joe Nicholson deliver their verdict on the rumours:

James Copley: “Your guess is as good as mine...”

To my mind, this is a really strange story.

When the report from The Sun dropped on Tuesday night, I was surprised.

Leaving a job half-finished doesn't sound like the Jermain Defoe we have come to know.

We know the striker to be a consummate professional, and given the hype surrounding his return and his love for Wearside, I don’t think he would decide to retire at this vital point of the season unless there was a very good reason.

There are a lot of moving parts to this story and it seems much of it is speculation.

Defoe may have picked up an injury or might be feeling every bit of his 39 years and might have concluded that he cannot contribute to the level he would like.

The Echo understands, however, that Defoe trained at the club yesterday, which suggests that there isn’t a serious problem in a physical sense.

In that regard, it doesn’t feel like the story is a go-er.

Could it be mental, then? Defoe may feel like this is the right time for him to retire.

More rumours circulated on Tuesday, though, that an announcement was set to come from Defoe regarding his future, but that didn’t materialise.

And that is what is playing on my mind… this could have been rubbished publicly by the player or the club, yet it hasn’t been.

The end game? Your guess is as good as mine.

With head coach Alex Neil is not due to speak to the media until before the Gillingham game next month, so it might be a while before we find out.

Joe Nicholson: “It hasn’t quite clicked...”

The timing of Tuesday's report that Defoe is considering his future seemed strange when there are just seven league games remaining.

We know the striker is still training with Sunderland as normal and hasn’t held talks with the club’s hierarchy about ending his playing career early.

While he hasn’t made the impact he would have hoped, I actually thought Defoe had looked a little sharper in the last few games.

It hasn’t quite clicked when he’s started up front alongside Ross Stewart, even if the Scot has praised Defoe highly recently.

When the pair have played together it seems like Defoe has been the one dropping deeper to try and link-up play, when we know the striker is much better inside the box where he can convert chances.

While I don’t think Defoe gets in the team's starting XI, I still think he can make an impact coming off the bench as he did against Fleetwood.

Obviously, time is running out, though, and with just over a month of the season remaining he doesn’t have much time left to build up his match fitness.

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