Jermain Defoe: BBC Sport looks at defining moments of former West Ham, Tottenham & England forward's career

Jermain Defoe's retirement sees him call time on an eventful 22-year professional career taking in 762 club games, a stint in Major League Soccer and 57 England caps.

A teenage prodigy at Charlton, Defoe became a goalscorer of note at West Ham and went on to enjoy a prolific two decades.

During that time his success as a footballer was accompanied by family tragedies and his friendship with terminally ill Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery, who died aged six after a long cancer illness in 2017.

He went on to remarkably win a first league title at Rangers in 2021 at the age of 38, and was in his second spell at Sunderland when he decided to hang up his boots.

But how will the 39-year-old, who is the ninth highest scorer in Premier League history, be best remembered?

Defoe's early promise saw him join Charlton from Sunday League team Senrab whose former players include Lee Bowyer, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Ledley King.

But after briefly attending the FA national school at Lilleshall, he elected to join West Ham in 1999 with Charlton receiving about £1.4m for a player who had been tipped for stardom.

Defoe scored on his first-team debut for the Hammers in a League Cup tie against Walsall in September 2000, and he shot to national attention after joining Bournemouth on loan in the Second Division, scoring in 10 successive Football League games to equal a league record.

On his return to West Ham, Defoe helped the club to a seventh-place Premier League finish in 2001-02, and his 14 goals in 39 matches in all competitions saw him end the campaign as the Hammers' top scorer.

He followed that up with 26 goals over the next two seasons to earn England recognition, but was vilified by some supporters for handing in a transfer request