West Ham co-owner David Gold says they won't pay over the odds for Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe.

The Hammers had a £6million bid turned down last week and have cooled their interest in bringing Defoe back to his old club after a possible fee of £12m was mooted.

A Twitter user told Gold: “I think 15 million for Defoe would be a good buy, yes he's 34 but his goals could be priceless come end of season."

Gold replied: “How much do you think you could sell Defoe for when he's 36? Dg"

Hammers legend Trevor Brooking revealed: “I was at the club when Jermain first left, I was the caretaker manager at the time.

“Everyone said he got a lot of stick from the fans, but to be fair his mum (Sandra) has always been a big influence and he put in the transfer request really under a lot of pressure from her.

“I never really blamed Jermain – he was a young lad and that was the situation at the time."