EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal ponder Defoe bid

Arsenal are considering a sensational bid to bag Jermain Defoe from arch-rivals Tottenham.

The England forward is looking at his options after being frozen out at White Hart Lane last season.

Tottenham are understood to be willing to listen to offers for the man who started only 16 League games.

The striker, signed for £15.75million from Portsmouth two years ago, could now become the fox in the box the Gunners have long been crying out for.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis have both insisted the club will be far busier this summer than they have been in recent transfer windows.

With Nicklas Bendtner having declared his intention to quit the Emirates, Wenger is hunting a top-class marksman to give some cutting edge to his team’s play.

While the signing of Defoe, 27, would require the player to cross the bitter north London divide, the stark reality is he was a fringe player at White Hart Lane last season but would have much to offer at the Emirates.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is already targeting at least two experienced strikers to freshen up the Tottenham front line.

Redknapp is keen on Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and has had bids for Internacional’s Leandro Damiao and Espanyol’s Pablo Osvaldo turned down.

Defoe has two and a half years left on his contract but Spurs have shown no inclination to tie him to a new deal.

Although Redknapp has been critical of his side's lack of goals this season, they are felt to have played more to the strengths of big Peter Crouch rather than diminutive Defoe.

Arsenal’s late-season collapse after their Carling Cup Final defeat in February condemned them to a sixth campaign without any silverware and means they face an August play-off to reach the Champions League's group stage.

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