Alan Pardew has admitted he failed to convince Jermain Defoe to sign for Crystal Palace over Sunderland. Defoe is on the brink of rubber-stamping his move to Wearside from Toronto, with Pardew conceding Palace were forced out of the race for the former England striker. Palace have secured Arsenal forward Yaya Sanogo on loan with new Eagles boss Pardew aiming to sign another striker during the January transfer window. Jermain Defoe is on the verge of completing a move back to the Premier League to Sunderland Defoe (left) signed for Toronto in MLS in January last year, but is set to return to England
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Jermain Defoe is close to finalising a permanent move to Sunderland
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Alan Pardew admits he wanted to bring Defoe to Crystal Palace
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Defoe played under Pardew at West Ham before moving to Tottenham
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Pardew has backed Defoe to help Sunderland stave off relegation
'He's still got to step in, I don't know the last time @placeholder had a run of three or four Premier League games,' said Pardew.