West Ham supporters have been pretty downbeat in recent times after seeing their side’s impressive unbeaten run come to an end prior to the international break.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men had picked up seven points from matches against Everton, Chelsea, and Manchester United prior to their trip to Brighton back on October 5, and as such were confident of maintaining their fine run of form with a positive result at the AMEX Stadium. Yet the Hammers weren’t able to do that in going down 1-0 to Chris Hughton’s side, with Glenn Murray’s effort midway through the first half sealing all three points for the Seagulls, and thus condemning West Ham to a fifth Premier League defeat of the season.

Thus, there have been many disappointed Hammers fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter in recent times to respond to rumours linking their team with a move for Jermain Defoe, with many hoping their side don’t seek to re-sign the striker.

And given the controversial circumstances in which he left, alongside the fact that he is 36 now and his best days appear to be behind him, those West Ham are spot on to hope that Pellegrini doesn’t seek to bring the striker back to East London.

Ultimately, Defoe began his senior career at West Ham back in 2000 and went on to make 94 appearances for the club in a four-year stint, in which time he bagged 29 goals but ultimately wasn’t able to keep the club in the Premier League in the 2002/03 campaign.

And their relegation to the second tier prompted the striker to hand in a transfer request almost immediately following their demotion, and while he subsequently apologised for the timing of the request, he then didn’t pen a new deal with the Hammers, before being sent off three times in the First Division in the 2003/04 season.

Thus, Defoe certainly didn’t endear himself to West Ham supporters with the way he went about his exit, eventually moving to Tottenham in January 2004, and while that was some time ago now, those fans are unlikely to have forgotten about it.

As such, it’s unlikely that the striker would be completely welcomed back to East London, as evidenced in some of the Twitter responses to the rumours linking them with the 36-year-old, yet there also have to be doubts about whether Defoe can indeed produce the goods for the Hammers.

The striker may well have been the main man at Sunderland during his time in the North East between 2014 and 2017, netting 34 goals in just 87 Premier League games to twice help keep them in the top-flight, but he has since then struggled for goals and regular football at Bournemouth, netting just four times in 26 league games for the Cherries.

And with only two Premier League appearances this term, totalling just 13 minutes of action, one wonders whether Defoe is indeed at the level required to help take the Hammers forward - his recent exploits suggest that he simply isn’t.

Thus, those West Ham fans hoping their side opt against a controversial move to bring the striker back to East London are absolutely spot on.

West Ham fans… what do you think? Let us know!