NEW recruit Jermain Defoe has revealed he would like to follow Eddie Howe into management.

Defoe played alongside Howe for Cherries during a fruitful loan spell from West Ham in 2000-2001, bagging 19 goals in 31 games.

No fewer than seven members of Howe’s current backroom staff started Defoe’s first game for Cherries at Stoke – Howe, Jason Tindall, Gareth Stewart, Carl Fletcher, Steve Fletcher, Stephen Purches and Richard Hughes.

Defoe, who penned a three-year deal at Vitality Stadium, was unveiled to the media at a press conference on Thursday.

He said his loan spell at Dean Court had forced him to “toughen up quickly” and he thought at the time Howe had been “a natural leader, somebody I looked at and thought would go on to be a manager.”

Answering a question put to him by the Daily Echo about the prospect of going into management, Defoe, who was sitting in Howe’s chair in the media suite, joked: “Sitting here like this, I feel like a manager already!”

He added: “I would love to follow in his footsteps. As you get older, of course you think on that sort of level.

“You always look at a manager and think, ‘I like the way you do this or the way you do that’ and, if I was a manager, I would do the same.

“That is the way I am beginning to think. I would like to take my coaching badges and I would like to try and take a lot from Eddie this year.”

Defoe, who is due to fly to Marbella for a 10-day training camp with his new team-mates, said he was excited at the prospect of continuing his footballing education under Howe.

He added: "One of the first things Eddie said to me was that he would still like to improve me, even at the age of 34.

"I've been in the game a long time, so for a manager to say that to me is good because it means I know I can still improve."

In an interview with the club website upon signing, Defoe had told supporters "the one thing I can guarantee is goals".

Discussing his pledge on Thursday, Defoe said: “I watched that interview back and thought 'wow, you've put pressure on yourself!’

"People always say that when you work hard, you get rewarded, so I'll just continue working hard and doing what I've always done.

"In the past two Premier League seasons, I have scored 15 goals back-to-back. If I can do that again, I will be delighted. It is a new season, new challenge. I want to keep doing what I am doing."