SUNDERLAND are set to confirm the signing of former England international Jermain Defoe.
The Black Cats are one of eight Premier League clubs to have signalled an interest in Defoe, who will leave Toronto FC after a brief spell with the Canadian Major League Soccer side.
Sunderland are understood to have offered Defoe a permanent deal worth more than £70,000-a-week on Wearside, which will make the 32-year-old the club's highest paid player.
Defoe has verbally agreed to join the Black Cats, and is expected on Wearside within the next 24 hours to put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal.
The former Tottenham striker scored 11 goals in 19 appearances for Toronto, but struggled to settle in North America and has been agitating for a return to England.
His signing will vastly increase the attacking threat of a Sunderland side that has struggled to score goals for the majority of the season.
Defoe's arrival is likely to be accompanied by Jozy Altidore's departure for Toronto, ending the American striker's unsuccessful spell in the North-East.
Toronto have agreed the terms of Altidore's move to Canada, but the move will have to be officially sanctioned by the MLS's 'allocations process' before it can be officially confirmed.
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