Toronto hint that Jermain Defoe could leave in January

A leading figure at Toronto suggests that former England striker Jermain Defoe could leave the MLS outfit in January as QPR plot to bring him back to the Premier League.

Published: October 8 2014 | 17:52

Last updated: October 8 2014 | 23:06

Toronto have refused to rule out Jermain Defoe returning to the Premier League in the January transfer window.

The former England striker is believed to be unsettled in Canada after his ex-Tottenham Hotspur teammate Ryan Nelsen was sacked as manager of the MLS outfit.

Queens Park Rangers failed in a transfer deadline-day swoop for the 32-year-old, but Harry Redknapp is expected to make another move for a player whom he has worked with at three different clubs in the winter.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Toronto's parent company, has insisted that Defoe is committed to helping the franchise to the MLS playoffs for the first time, but admitted that his future beyond that is still up in the air.

He said at the Leaders in Sport conference in London: "Jermain Defoe is focused on the remaining four games [of the regular season]. There is no deal, no conversation, not even a thought right now.

"Jermain understands the uniqueness of Major League Soccer, we have playoffs. That's the defining moment on the success of our clubs. Making the play-offs would be a huge step forward [for Toronto]. Jermain now gets that and is totally focused on that.

"As to what happens during the next transfer window, we've all agreed we'll put it on hold and talk about that in December. I compliment Jermain for being committed to trying to get us to the playoffs and making that the only concern that we have right now."

Defoe has scored 11 goals in 16 games for Toronto since joining from Spurs in January 2014.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21