ADAM Smith is convinced "great striker" Jermain Defoe would "thrive" with Cherries and has already tried to persuade his former Tottenham team-mate to join him at Vitality Stadium.

Defoe had a clause written into his Sunderland contract allowing him to leave for nothing in the event of relegation, which was confirmed when Cherries won at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

The 34-year-old made a goalscoring return to the England fold in March and has acknowledged he needs to be operating in the Premier League to keep alive his dream of playing at next year's World Cup.

As such, Defoe is sure to have an army of top-flight suitors – and Smith has wasted no time in starting Cherries' bidding.

He told the Daily Echo: "I did have a word with him after the game, actually, but I can’t go into too much detail!

"Hopefully, he will come here next season. He is constantly on your shoulder and really annoying to play against.

"I think he would thrive in our team and, with all our creative players, he would get loads of chances."

Smith and Defoe were at Spurs together for five years until January 2014 when they exited White Hart Lane within 18 days of each other – Smith joining Cherries and the forward linking up with Toronto.

Defoe's move to Major League Soccer was interpreted in many quarters as him winding down his career.

Since returning to this country two years ago, though, he has been a revelation, netting 36 times for perennial strugglers Sunderland.

And, according to Smith, the former Cherries' loan star has lost none of the qualities that had won him 55 international caps before his recent Three Lions recall.

"Jermain was so sharp when I was with him at Spurs," said the right-back. "He is 34 now and he hasn’t lost any of that ability at all.

"He has scored 14 goals this season for the team that is bottom of the Premier League so that shows what a great finisher and striker he is.

"For sure, he could score more than 14 goals in our team next season."

While Cherries' 1-0 victory in the north east relegated their opponents, it all but secured Premier League survival for Eddie Howe's side.

And Smith insisted he was always certain his team's "arrogance" would see them through, despite a tough start to 2017.

He said: "I was confident in our ability as a side to put together a strong run. We knew if we kept playing our way and passing the ball then we would get chances and win games. That is what has happened.

"I don’t think we have a plan B. We have a little bit of arrogance about us. We keep playing, no matter what. We go into every game believing we can pass any team off the pitch.

"And, once we get our game together, we are a force."