Jermain Defoe: Rangers were after Bournemouth striker for months, says director of football Mark Allen
Rangers director of football Mark Allen has revealed the club had been plotting the signing of Jermain Defoe for months.
The former England striker, who has 162 Premier League goals to his name, recently completed an 18-month loan switch to Ibrox from Bournemouth.
And in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT presenter Jim White, Allen says the club had been tracking the 36-year-old since August.
“Way back at the close of the summer window, we sat down as a team and started to look at where we go next," he said. "And obviously things come to fruition, names come up, and Jermain was very much in that.
“It was just a case of whether we thought we could get him or not.
“It’s not something that’s come about in the last week or so, it’s something that we’ve been thinking about.
“It was just sitting, waiting and thinking exactly what we wanted to do in the window, then pressing the ‘go’ button and contacting Bournemouth.”
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Rangers are currently level on points with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership and Allen hopes Defoe can help fire his side to a first league title since 2011.
“He’s really excited, he’s looking forward to putting the blue shirt on and he’s just raring to go again," the Rangers chief added.
“His goalscoring record goes before him and I don’t think that’s anything that needs qualification.
“The statistics are there and it’s obviously a heavy factor in us wanting to pursue him. Long may that continue and hopefully he starts banging the goals in for Rangers.
“We’ll take one game at a time. We’re very excited and delighted to have got Jermain over the line. We know we’ve got a goalscorer, we hope he can continue with that and who knows where that takes you?”
However, doubts surround the future of Gers’ star man Alfredo Morelos, who has been linked with a move away from Ibrox this month.
And while Allen insists the club have no plans to sell the forward, he admits it could be a matter of time before he leaves.
“Alfredo gets a lot of good and a lot of bad press. He’s a remarkable character because the stick he takes on the park – he just picks himself up and gets on with it.
“Ultimately Alfredo will want to play at a different level, our job is to hold onto him for as long as we can.
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“There’s no intention of letting him go right now and we’ll see where the future takes him.”
And Allen hopes playing with Defoe can help take Morelos to the next level: “He’s got a master there, a master craftsman in terms of goalscoring.”