Sunderland boss Gus Poyet admits his connection with Jermain Defoe clinched a deal in their favour.

Poyet has revealed that he used his friendship with Defoe - who he worked with at Spurs - to get the deal started, before handing over to sporting director Lee Congerton to thrash out the terms of his £80,000-per-week contract.

"When the club was happy to start finding out about the possibility, I talked to Jermain. Simple.

"I knew that Jermain would tell me the truth. He wouldn't say, "Let me wait and see, and maybe I'll give you an answer next week or in another week's time". It was straightforward.

"When I knew what Jermain told me, I went back to Lee and said, "Now the ball is on your side of the court". As soon as I spoke to Jermain, I knew we had a chance, and that was the main thing. We had a proper chance, and it proved right, so credit to Jermain.

"Then all the rest of the deal was tough, there were so many things involved, but that is credit to the club."