Sunderland boss Gus Poyet's friendship with Jermain Defoe was the clincher in their battle to land the Toronto FC striker.

Sunderland were competing with several Premier League rivals for the forward, including Hull City and QPR.

Poyet worked with Defoe, who was desperate to quit Major League Soccer side Toronto, when he was assistant manager to Juande Ramos at Tottenham.

He took Defoe out for dinner on Tuesday night to discuss his return to English football after an unhappy 11-month spell in Canada, where he scored 11 goals in 16 games, says the Daily Mail.

The pair were at Spurs for the League Cup final win over Chelsea at Wembley in 2008, but Poyet left Spurs with Ramos the following October.