Sunderland Striker Jermain Defoe Reveals Which Man Utd Striker Stopped Him Moving to Old Trafford

?Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has revealed the form of former Manchester United striker Louis Saha stopped him moving to Old Trafford.

Defoe is arguably a Premier League legend, having scored goals in England’s top tier for West Ham, Tottenham and Portsmouth and Sunderland since the turn of the century. 

He is ranked the 10th highest scorer in Premier League history with 157 strikes, ahead of stars such as Michael Owen, Robin van Persie, Dwight Yorke and Sergio Aguero.

Defoe scored the bulk of his goals during his two spells at White Hart Lane with Tottenham, but was linked with moves to two title challenging teams before settling in north London.

Manchester United and Arsenal were both linked with the forward but transfers never materialised, and Defoe believes the form of one player at Old Trafford in particular stopped a potential transfer from happening.

“Louis Saha had gone to United already and he was on fire,” Defoe told Four Four Two, as quoted by ?the Daily Star.

Saha proved to be a hit for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side although his spell in Manchester was disappointingly disrupted by injury, resulting in the Frenchman making only 86 Premier League appearances in five seasons, scoring 28 goals.

A move to Everton came in 2008, with the former France international scoring a further 27 league goals in 97 appearances. Moves to Tottenham, Sunderland and Lazio followed before Saha announced his retirement in 2013.

Defoe has been tasked with keeping Sunderland up this season, scoring 14 league goals with the Black Cats currently eight points from safety.