After a transfer window where a move to bring Jermain Defoe back to the Stadium of Light was rumoured and hoped for throughout, Sunderland completed and announced the signing of the former England striker late into the night on deadline day.
The 39-year-old will be hoping to contribute on the field and score the goals to reignite the Black Cats' automatic promotion bid after scoring 26 goals in 2,411 minutes played for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. This equates to 0.97 goals per 90 minutes played, showing that while he might be in the twilight of his career, he can still be a lethal goalscorer.
As well as what he can add with his goalscoring, Defoe has already spoken about giving something back to the club in terms of helping to develop youth players in his second stint on Wearside.
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“Of course it’s a strong squad,” he said following his move on Monday night. “I keep mentioning that belief but that’s the key thing and I’m looking forward to working with the younger players.
“Hopefully I can give them a lot, I’ll always be approachable, they can always come up to me and speak about anything. I’ll obviously keep them on their toes, make sure we’re all in it together, make sure everyone’s working because the reward is so big.
“All the sacrifices and the hard work are for something that’s special at the end so I want to give something back and help the younger lads to push the club back to where it should be.”
Sunderland fans, of course, won't be surprised to hear him say this, after Defoe helped to nurture the talents of Joel Asoro and Josh Maja in his previous spell at the club.
Both went on to move play for the first team before moves away - to Swansea and Bordeaux respectively - but Defoe spotted their talents quickly and was keen to help them achieve their goals of having a first-team impact at the Stadium of Light.
"It only takes me five minutes in training to work out a player and I thought ‘yeah, these boys have got a bit and they can play," said Defoe back in 2017.
"They really impressed me and I thought they are going to be the future of the club, so I wanted them to go on and do big things and hopefully any advice I gave them helped."
Asoro was signed by Swansea after only one season at the club, although his career has now led him to Sweden as he now plays for Djurgardens after failing to kick on.
Meanwhile, Maja hit 14 goals in Sunderland's first season in League One, although he left for Bordeaux in Ligue 1 at the halfway point. He has since scored 11 top flight goals between playing for Bordeaux and on loan at Fulham in the Premier League. He is now on loan at Stoke in the Championship.
Sunderland 's current forwards will hope to learn from Defoe now. As one of the Premier League's top scorers of all time, there is so much that Ross Stewart - still just 25 - can learn from a player of Defoe's calibre. One can only imagine the tips on movement that a player like the former Tottenham Hotspur striker can give.
It was movement and speed of thought which Defoe highlighted when speaking about Maja:
"Josh is a quick thinker and if you’re that fast upstairs you don’t need anything else.
"When he trained with the first team he showed such great awareness – he knew when to pass it, had a great touch – and although he’s not got electric pace, he’s two steps ahead of everyone which means he’s got an immediate advantage."
As well as Stewart, young forward Jack Clarke could surely learn from the 39-year-old. Although Clarke is a winger, as opposed to a striker, Defoe will surely be able to help him bring more goals to his game. Alongside that, Clarke is on a journey of loans as he tries to establish his career in first-team football after his initial breakthrough at Leeds United. Defoe's own experiences on loan at Bournemouth before going on to be a star for West Ham could be greatly beneficial for Clarke as both he and Sunderland need this loan to be a real success.
Of course, there are younger and older players throughout the club who can also benefit from the experience and leadership which the returning hero has to offer. If they can really take advantage of this - alongside the goals - it could be their secret weapon in the promotion race.
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