My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. This week, we speak to Jermain Defoe, one of English football’s most prolific strikers, about feeling invincible at Tottenham Hotspur, how Simply Red connects him to his departed loved ones, and the move to Juventus that never was.
It’s so hard to say when I was happiest
I made my debut at West Ham when I was 17, and I finished at 39. I played nearly 800 games.
Defoe, who is now retired, pictured in action for West Ham in 2001 (Photo: Getty)
There were so many periods I thought I was playing my best football and years later you think “hmm, I enjoyed this other period a lot more”.
