Jermain Defoe Net Worth

What is Jermain Defoe's Net Worth and Salary?

Jermain Defoe is an English former professional soccer player and coach who has a net worth of $40 million.

One of the most prolific English strikers of his era, Defoe scored 162 goals in 496 Premier League appearances during a career that included major spells with West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, and Bournemouth. He is particularly associated with Tottenham, where he scored 143 goals in 363 appearances across two separate stints and became one of the leading scorers in club history. Defoe also played for Portsmouth, Toronto FC, and Rangers, winning the Scottish Premiership with Rangers during the 2020-21 season.

Defoe earned 57 caps for England and scored 20 international goals, including the winner against Slovenia that sent England into the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup. Renowned for his quick release, movement inside the penalty area, and ability to score with either foot, he finished his career with more than 300 club goals. Defoe was also among the best-paid English strikers of his generation. Toronto FC paid him more than $6 million per year, Sunderland gave him a contract worth close to £70,000 per week, and his three-year Bournemouth package was worth £20 million including his signing bonus. After retiring in 2022, Defoe moved into coaching, spending two years in Tottenham's academy before briefly taking charge of National League club Woking in 2026.

Early Life

Jermain Colin Defoe was born on October 7, 1982, in Beckton, East London. His father, Jimmy Defoe, was of Dominican heritage, while his mother, Sandra, comes from a Saint Lucian family. Defoe grew up primarily with his mother and developed close ties to Saint Lucia through regular childhood trips to visit his maternal grandparents.

As a boy, Defoe played for Senrab, the celebrated East London youth club that also helped develop players including John Terry, Ashley Cole, Ledley King, and Sol Campbell. Charlton Athletic recruited him into its youth system, and at age 14 he joined the Football Association's National School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

At 16, Defoe left Charlton to join West Ham United. The move eventually resulted in Charlton receiving compensation based partly on his later Premier League and international appearances.

West Ham and Bournemouth

Defoe made his senior debut for West Ham in September 2000 and scored his first professional goal in a League Cup match against Walsall. Soon afterward, West Ham sent the teenage striker on loan to Bournemouth in the third tier of English soccer.

The loan became one of the defining early stretches of his career. Defoe scored in 10 consecutive league matches, equaling a postwar Football League record, and finished his Bournemouth stint with 19 goals in 31 appearances across all competitions. He returned to West Ham ready for regular Premier League soccer.

Defoe established himself as one of England's most promising young strikers over the next several seasons. He scored 14 league goals during the 2001-02 campaign and remained productive even as West Ham were relegated in 2003. His decision to submit a transfer request immediately after relegation angered many West Ham supporters, but the club kept him for the first half of the following season.

In February 2004, Tottenham acquired Defoe in a £7 million transaction that also sent Bobby Zamora to West Ham.

Tottenham Hotspur

Defoe scored on his Tottenham debut against Portsmouth and quickly became a fan favorite at White Hart Lane. Small for a center forward but exceptionally quick and direct, he specialized in creating shooting opportunities with minimal backlift and was dangerous both inside and outside the penalty area.

During his first Tottenham stint, Defoe competed for playing time with strikers including Robbie Keane, Mido, and Dimitar Berbatov. He remained a consistent scorer but sometimes found himself outside the starting lineup despite his production. By early 2008, he wanted more regular first-team soccer and moved to Portsmouth.

His first Spurs spell produced 64 goals in 177 appearances. Defoe would ultimately become far more closely associated with Tottenham after returning less than a year later.

Portsmouth and Return to Tottenham

Portsmouth paid £9 million for Defoe in January 2008, reuniting him with manager Harry Redknapp. Defoe immediately went on a scoring run, becoming the first Portsmouth player to score in each of his first five home matches.

Redknapp left Portsmouth for Tottenham in October 2008, and Defoe soon followed him. Spurs brought the striker back in January 2009 in a deal valued at £15 million. With no active agent representing him at the time, Defoe and his mother handled his side of the negotiations themselves.

His second Tottenham stint included some of the finest moments of his career. On November 22, 2009, Defoe scored five goals in the second half of a 9-1 victory over Wigan Athletic, becoming only the third player at the time to score five times in a Premier League match. He finished the 2009-10 season with 24 goals in all competitions as Tottenham qualified for the Champions League.

Defoe remained an important part of a Spurs team that included players such as Gareth Bale, Luka Modrić, Rafael van der Vaart, and later Harry Kane. In 2013, he became Tottenham's all-time leading scorer in European competition with his 23rd continental goal, a record Kane later surpassed.

Across his two Tottenham spells, Defoe scored 143 goals in 363 appearances in all competitions.

Toronto FC

In January 2014, Tottenham agreed to sell Defoe to Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. He remained with Spurs until the end of February before joining Toronto for the beginning of the MLS season.

The move was a major financial commitment by Toronto. Defoe signed a four-year contract worth more than £90,000 per week. MLS salary records listed his 2014 base salary at $6 million and guaranteed compensation at $6.18 million, placing him alongside Michael Bradley as one of the league's highest-paid players.

Defoe started brilliantly in Canada, scoring twice in his MLS debut against Seattle Sounders. He finished his lone Toronto season with 11 goals in 19 league appearances, but injuries and dissatisfaction with life away from England contributed to a rapid exit. Less than a year after his arrival, Defoe returned to the Premier League with Sunderland.

Sunderland

Sunderland acquired Defoe from Toronto in January 2015 in a deal that sent American striker Jozy Altidore in the opposite direction. Defoe signed a 3½-year contract with compensation close to £70,000 per week, with additional incentives tied to appearances, goals, and Sunderland's league status.

He soon demonstrated that he could still score at the highest level. One of his most memorable Sunderland goals came against Newcastle United in April 2015, when he struck a spectacular left-footed volley in the Tyne-Wear derby and left the field in tears at halftime.

Defoe became increasingly important as Sunderland battled relegation. He scored 15 Premier League goals in 2015-16, helping the club survive, and followed with another 15 league goals the following season. His performances were strong enough to earn an England recall at age 34 after more than three years away from the national team.

Sunderland were relegated in 2017, triggering a clause that allowed Defoe to leave on a free transfer. He departed after scoring 37 goals in 93 appearances in all competitions.

Bournemouth and Rangers

Defoe returned to Bournemouth in 2017, 16 years after his extraordinary teenage loan spell. He signed a three-year contract worth £65,000 per week. Including his signing-on fee, the entire package was valued at £20 million.

Injuries and competition for places limited his role at Bournemouth, although he produced one particularly memorable moment with a spectacular goal against Crystal Palace in December 2017. In January 2019, Bournemouth loaned Defoe to Rangers for 18 months.

The move to Scotland reunited him with former England teammate Steven Gerrard, then Rangers' manager. Defoe continued scoring despite being deep into his 30s and eventually joined Rangers permanently after his Bournemouth contract expired.

He served as both a player and coach and was part of the Rangers squad that went undefeated in league play while winning the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership. It was the first league championship of Defoe's senior career.

After leaving Rangers, Defoe made one final return to Sunderland in January 2022. He appeared seven times before announcing his retirement that March at age 39. He finished his club career with 305 goals in 762 appearances.

Contracts, Salaries & Career Earnings

Defoe spent the majority of his career during an era of rapid salary growth in the Premier League. His first major contracts came at Tottenham, and when the club brought him back from Portsmouth in 2009, his signing helped push Tottenham's wage ceiling to £65,000 per week. Defoe remained at Spurs for another five years, putting his salary during that stretch alone well into eight figures.

His move to Toronto produced one of the richest contracts of his career. Defoe's MLS deal was structured at more than £90,000 per week, while official player salary figures for 2014 listed a $6 million base salary and $6.18 million in guaranteed compensation.

Returning to England did not require a major financial sacrifice. Sunderland signed Defoe to a 3½-year incentive-heavy contract worth close to £70,000 per week. At that level, a full year was worth more than £3.6 million before bonuses.

Defoe then exercised a relegation clause in 2017 and moved from Sunderland to Bournemouth as a free agent. His three-year Bournemouth contract paid £65,000 per week, while the full package, including his signing-on fee, was worth £20 million. He spent the latter portion of that contract on loan with Rangers before completing a permanent move to Glasgow.

Across more than two decades as a professional, Defoe generated gross playing income in the $90 million to $100 million range before taxes, agents, and other expenses. That figure does not include transfer fees such as the £7 million Tottenham paid West Ham, the £9 million Portsmouth paid Tottenham, or the £15 million Tottenham later paid to bring him back, because those payments went between clubs rather than directly to Defoe.

England Career

Defoe made his senior England debut against Sweden in March 2004. He competed during an era in which England had an unusually deep group of forwards, including Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, and Emile Heskey, which made regular starting opportunities difficult to secure.

He missed the final squads for Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup but was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Defoe scored the only goal in England's 1-0 victory over Slovenia, securing qualification for the round of 16.

After falling out of the national team following 2013, Defoe earned a remarkable recall in 2017. At age 34, he started a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley and scored, with his young friend Bradley Lowery serving as England's mascot.

Defoe finished his international career with 20 goals in 57 appearances.

Endorsements

Defoe maintained a long-running relationship with Adidas during the peak of his career. He was one of the company's sponsored Premier League players and appeared in Adidas advertising alongside other major European stars.

He became especially associated with the Adidas F50 line of lightweight football boots. Defoe appeared in product launches and promotional campaigns for various versions of the F50 and served as one of the lead players marketing the boot during his Tottenham years.

Unlike global superstars such as David Beckham, endorsements never represented the primary source of Defoe's wealth. His club salaries and signing bonuses accounted for the overwhelming majority of his career income.

Ian Walton / Getty Images

Real Estate

Defoe invested some of his soccer earnings in high-end British real estate. During his Tottenham years, he owned a custom-built 7,000-square-foot mansion in Cuffley, Hertfordshire, featuring a gym, cinema, and games room. The property was placed on the market for £3.75 million in 2012.

At the same time, Defoe secured approval for an even larger project in Chigwell, Essex. Plans called for the demolition of an existing home and construction of an eight-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot residence valued at £4.5 million. Designs included an underground swimming pool, gym, games room, treatment room, hair salon, outdoor hot tub, and private nightclub.

Bradley Lowery and Charity Work

One of the most important relationships of Defoe's life had nothing to do with his accomplishments on the field. While playing for Sunderland, he became close to six-year-old supporter Bradley Lowery, who was battling neuroblastoma.

Bradley first met Defoe through Sunderland and quickly formed an unusually close bond with the striker. Defoe visited him during treatment, brought him onto the field as a mascot, and remained close to Bradley and his family until the child's death in July 2017. Defoe later described the friendship as transformative and said Bradley changed him as a person.

Defoe has also devoted significant time to charitable work through the Jermain Defoe Foundation, which was established to support homeless, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children in Saint Lucia and the United Kingdom. He has funded children's programs and worked with young people in care through initiatives connected with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

In recognition of his charitable work, Defoe was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, in 2018.

Coaching Career

Defoe began moving into coaching before his playing career had completely ended. At Rangers, he worked as a player-coach under Steven Gerrard and gained his first experience on the coaching side of a senior professional team.

In August 2022, several months after retiring, Defoe returned to Tottenham as an academy coach and club ambassador. He worked primarily with players from the Under-17 through Under-21 age groups and later coached Tottenham's Under-18 side. Defoe left the club in July 2024, saying he wanted to progress into a first-team environment.

His first managerial appointment arrived in March 2026 when National League club Woking named him its first-team manager. Defoe took charge of the final six competitive matches of the 2025-26 season, recording two wins, three draws, and one defeat as Woking finished 10th. Defoe and Woking mutually agreed to end his contract in July 2026, four months after his appointment.

Personal Life

Defoe has spoken extensively about the importance of his mother, Sandra, who was closely involved in managing his career from an early age. During periods when he did not have a conventional football agent, Sandra helped him handle negotiations and business matters.

His life has also been marked by several family tragedies. His half-brother Jade died in 2009 after suffering head injuries in an assault, and his father Jimmy died from cancer in 2012. Later that year, Defoe's 20-year-old cousin Hannah died after being electrocuted in a swimming pool while on vacation in Saint Lucia. Defoe has said those losses profoundly changed his outlook on life.

A practicing Christian, Defoe has also spoken about adopting a vegan diet late in his playing career and has long been teetotal. In 2024, his career and personal life were chronicled in the documentary "Defoe: For the Love of the Game."

Read more: Jermain Defoe Net Worth