JERMAIN DEFOE is considering ending his playing career before the end of the season – but the 39-year-old striker is yet to hold formal talks with the Sunderland hierarchy about bringing his contract to a premature end.

A report on The Sun’s website yesterday evening claimed Defoe was set to announce his retirement from playing “imminently”, and the former England international is indeed understood to be using the current international break to weigh up his options ahead of the final month of the season.

However, Defoe trained with Sunderland’s first-team squad as usual yesterday, and is due to take part in training at the Academy of Light throughout the rest of the week.

He has not discussed his position with the Stadium of Light hierarchy, who agreed a deal to the end of the season when Defoe rejoined the Black Cats as a free agent on deadline day.

Since then, things have not exactly gone to plan, with Defoe still to score the first goal of his second spell as a Sunderland player.

Former boss Lee Johnson is known to have harboured reservations about re-signing the forward, who had only played nine minutes of senior football with Rangers in the whole of the first half of the season prior to moving back to Wearside. Indeed, the mounting tensions over a deal for Defoe were a factor in Johnson’s departure at the end of January.

Alex Neil has been willing to give Defoe a chance during his tenure, but the veteran’s lack of match sharpness has been an ongoing issue which has severely restricted his first-team opportunities.

Defoe has made just two starts and five substitute appearances since re-signing, with his most recent outing coming courtesy of a 16-minute substitute run-out in last weekend’s goalless draw with Lincoln.

The prospect of remaining on the periphery of things in the final month of the season is unlikely to appeal, with Defoe hardly needing to worry about financial concerns at this stage of his career.

While Neil has gradually promoted Patrick Roberts into the first-team fold despite the forward being similarly underused in the first half of the season when he was on loan at French club Troyes, Defoe has remained something of a luxury rather than an integral part of the Sunderland manager’s plans.

His premature retirement would be something of a blow if it was to be agreed as it would leave the Black Cats short of natural attacking cover if anything was to happen to their first-choice striker, Ross Stewart. However, even in that scenario, it is doubtful whether Neil would turn to Defoe as his first-choice striker in the seven games that remain before the end of the season.

The Sun quoted a source close to Defoe as saying: “He (Defoe) is ready to call time on what has been a fantastic career.”