Toronto FC says star striker Defoe recovering nicely from surgery

TORONTO – Jermain Defoe is recovering nicely from last month’s groin surgery, according to Toronto FC GM Tim Bezbatchenko.

Club doctors are in regular contact with the English striker’s physio and the surgeon who operated on him.

“Hopefully he can be fit and ready to go (next season),” Bezbatchenko said in an interview Wednesday. “Unless something were to be done, but right now there’s no news.”

The international transfer window does not open until January. But teams can inquire in advance.

“There’s probably not a week that goes by that i don’t get an email or a call on our players,” said Bezbatchenko, declining to be more specific.

Toronto turned down a club-record transfer fee for Defoe prior to the end of the summer transfer window. Speculation on Defoe’s future has ramped up ever since.