Report: Bournemouth confident of signing Terry, Defoe for free
Veterans John Terry and Jermain Defoe could be the highest-earning players at Bournemouth next season, according to The Telegraph's Sam Wallace.
Chelsea's captain and relegated Sunderland's top scorer are available as free agents in the summer, and Cherries manager Eddie Howe is reportedly confident of picking up the pair after staving off the threat of relegation with relative ease in two Premier League terms.
Terry, 36, and Defoe, 34, would both likely hold out for two-year deals, but the fellow products of Sunday league team Senrab and former England teammates are apparently keen on the destination, as well as the style of football on the south coast.
An 18-year-old Defoe played alongside Howe in the third tier when he enjoyed a free-scoring loan at Bournemouth from West Ham United in the 2000-01 season. The striker will want to stay in the Premier League after forcing his way back into international reckoning, and his availability is allegedly of interest to West Ham, too.
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Terry, like Defoe, would probably earn a weekly pay packet starting at around £100,000 a week, Law reports - more than Bournemouth has ever splurged on wages before - and would be encouraged by having modest centre-back competition from Steve Cook and Simon Francis, both of whom played for Bournemouth in League One. The ex-England skipper was subject of a reported loan approach from the Cherries in January after Blues colleague Nathan Ake was recalled from his own temporary spell at Dean Court, but nothing materialised.
Bournemouth's only reservations apparently concern the way £15-million Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith have floundered since their transfers from Liverpool last summer. Much of Howe's unit is made up of trusted players that contributed in Bournemouth's rise from the fourth rung of England's football ladder, so the boss would be cautious of upsetting the team spirit.
There is also a risk of key first-teamers leaving the club this summer, including indefatigable midfielder Harry Arter and Joshua King, who's become the first Norwegian to break 15 goals in a Premier League season since Manchester United icon Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.