Jermain Defoe spotted coaching at Arsenal, but Spurs fans shouldn’t worry

Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-18s coach, Jermain Defoe, has been spending time at Arsenal’s training facilities this week. However, this is all just part of an FA coaching course, and not the beginnings of a switch across North London.

Jermain Defoe is among Tottenham‘s top goalscorers, having bagged 140 goals in 361 games for the Lilywhites during two spells with the club (Transfermarkt).

Since retiring in 2022, Defoe has been back at his former club to start his journey as a coach. As the coach of the Spurs U18 side, the 41-year-old is helping to mould the players of the future for Tottenham.

At the moment, Defoe is back in the spotlight, as his 2008 transfer from Spurs to Portsmouth is currently under investigation by the FA for alleged breaches in the use of unlicensed agents (The Times).

Why was Defoe coaching at Arsenal?

But, the former striker is putting all his focus on his coaching education right now, as the Daily Mail have reported on his latest training session, which took place at Arsenal‘s HQ.

Defoe was present at the Hale End training base for an under-14s training session, delivering his “expert knowledge” to youngsters in the Arsenal youth setup.

There was nothing more to it, though, as Defoe was one of many coaches attending the session as part of an FA coaching course. It’s said the FA “have held similar sessions” at other Premier League clubs such as Burnley and Brighton recently.

Spurs Web Opinion

Gaining an education in coaching is more important than club rivalries, and as much as we dislike Arsenal, they are still a big club with top facilities so it makes sense that Defoe and the other coaches would spend time there. At least now he can come back to Spurs and realise how good he has it.