Powerful voices in soccer on both sides of the ocean cautioned Toronto FC against cracking open the vault for Jermain Defoe late last year.

They weren’t down on Defoe, the English striker who consistently electrified the Premier League with an astronomical strike rate.

Instead, they warned about Defoe the overtly loyal son; Defoe the mamma’s boy.

But the club’s top brass and coaching staff didn’t see a threat in Sandra St. Helen, who was often all smiles and bubbly outside TFC’s dressing room post-game.

Toronto executives never dreamed the woman would pose enough of a problem to pass up an opportunity to transform the team’s fortunes. And with the Toronto franchise having never qualified for the post-season during its eight years in Major League Soccer, TFC bosses were desperate to see a positive change — and fast.

Several high-placed sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, admitted they underestimated St. Helen’s influence over her son.

Over the course of 10 months, the Reds’ $10-million acquisition, touted in massive promotional campaigns as a “bloody big deal,” has turned into a bloody nightmare for the embattled Toronto franchise.​

The Reds rigorously vetted their one-time prized signing, getting references from some of the biggest names in world football last winter, according to a source in the position to know.

Defoe checked out fine every time, the informed source added, but everyone warned against his mother.

St. Helen, the unturned stone in Toronto FC’s biggest off-field saga yet, was the principal reason Queens Park Rangers’ summer swoon turned into a Clash tune for TFC fans.

Would Defoe stay? Would he go? What should he do after the Reds rolled out the red carpet to get him — and more importantly, his mom — to BMO Field?

The Reds doled out more for the Englishman’s signature than the L.A. Galaxy did to bring David Beckham stateside back in 2007 — a move that’s still heralded as the greatest in MLS history.

Further to that point, MLSE went above and beyond great lengths to settle Defoe’s family back in January.

As a well-placed source explained to the Toronto Sun, the Reds basically inked two Britons last winter — with Defoe receiving a dump-truck full of cash and his mom a new Toronto home close to her son’s humble abode.

After all, St. Helen has always appeared to have influence over what her son does. Multiple English media reports undeniably outline the mother-son combo’s extremely tight bond.

Defoe’s brief foray into MLS was no different, an informed source acknowledged.

There she was, outside the players’ dressing room after most home fixtures — sometimes receiving a kiss on the cheek from top Toronto FC suits who were beginning to receive a first-hand look at Defoe’s and his mother’s close relationship.

For a while, Defoe’s on-field production was magnificent. His season-opening brace in Seattle helped Toronto FC garner a victory along with the highest Canadian TV ratings in MLS history.

The 32-year-old bagged nine more goals after that, swelling his total to 11 well before the all-star game in Portland, a trip about which Defoe often complained to staff he had no interest in attending.

Things began to unravel shortly thereafter.

Despite sustaining a groin injury, Defoe was still on-board following a late-July drubbing at D.C. United.

Although he took off for England to get a second opinion on his rehab shortly afterward, he was even provided a platform to offer his opinion about Ryan Nelsen’s mid-summer sacking, according to a source with knowledge of the firing.

At that point, Defoe was inexplicably rehabbing a groin injury in England, having refused treatment back in Toronto.

Defoe wished not to use TFC’s doctors, according to a source in the position to know.

He didn’t want to follow the club’s rehab plan, either, one that might have seen him miss just three games had he undergone a recommended minor procedure.

“Even if you need an operation, it’s only minor where you get it done and you can run within a week or two,” Defoe admitted to reporters on Thursday.

Astonishingly, back in England, multiple sources say Defoe’s mom was attempting to broker deals behind TFC’s back with London-based clubs, an accusation she has denied to MLSE brass.

As the source put it: St. Helen isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and make her own million-dollar deals.

The Toronto Sun attempted to reach out to St. Helen through Defoe’s agent, but never received a response on multiple occasions.

And those allegations, it would seem, aren’t without merit.

St. Helen was accused of facilitating Defoe’s return to Tottenham back in 2009, allegedly breaching transfer rules for her son to play under Spurs manager Harry Redknapp for a second time, according to English media reports.

Five years on, St. Helen was one of the architects of QPR’s summer pursuit of her son, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

With Redknapp currently in charge at the Premier League club, Defoe was reportedly back on the known wheeler dealer’s radar — a scenario that saw the Englishman nearly reunite with Redknapp at the transfer deadline.

The would-be MLS record transfer terms, which Sportsnet first reported to be worth $11 million, were eventually rejected by TFC’s top brass despite Defoe’s mother allegedly agreeing to “terms” for her son days before the player’s representatives knew anything about a potential move.

At that point, though, Defoe’s mother was throwing what a well-placed source described as a “tantrum”. In other words, she wanted out of Toronto — similar to what MLSE once went through with Michelle Carter-Scott, the overbearing mother of one-time Toronto Raptor Vince Carter.

In an instant, MLSE’s winter “wooing” of St. Helen, as chronicled by the Toronto Star, no longer mattered. When St. Helen took off for London in August, Defoe’s heart wasn’t in it anymore.

It was later confirmed that Defoe — well, his mom allegedly — had agreed to player terms without MLSE’s knowledge, giving QPR a perceived upper hand. As one insider said, it put the Reds in a “tough spot.”

It didn’t help matters that Defoe was publicly telling London-based people he was eager to return to England, the source added.

It was only then that Struan Marshall, Defoe’s agent, contacted Toronto FC’s top brass to approve a pending deal. However, MLSE slammed the door on any transaction, as it was more interested in a playoff race and saving face with TFC’s fan base.

Marshall did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

“We agreed to player terms (with Defoe) but his club in (North America) didn’t want to let him go. At the last moment, they were umming and ahhing,” QPR owner Tony Fernandes revealed to Sky News hours after the transfer window closed.

“We’ll probably come back with it in January. Jermain is happy to come here.”

This statement confirmed to MLSE that someone was stirring things up behind the club’s back.

Through it all, however, TFC never approached outside clubs in an attempt to sell Defoe, an insider said. It was only on the receiving end of three separate offers.

With the transfer deal scuttled, Defoe had no choice but to return to Toronto with three-and-a-half more seasons left on his $24 million contract.

Even after he knew he was staying, it still took Defoe three weeks to come back, extending his total number of missed fixtures to six.

Three weeks later, Defoe arrived back in Toronto a day after he was supposed to — the club’s staff wondering why they’d barely heard a peep (only a random tweet, more specifically) since his abrupt departure.

By that time, Toronto’s Designated Player had become a tremendous distraction to his team — one of the key reasons the Reds eventually lost their way in the MLS playoff race after failing to win another Eastern Conference game.

Defoe later returned to make two more starts before again exiting training due to the same groin injury he sustained a month earlier, leaving his teammates once more without their leading scorer.

Questions persist as to the seriousness of Defoe’s current injury.

Multiple well-placed sources speculated to the Sun that if Saturday’s match mattered, Defoe would likely be healthy enough to participate.

On Thursday, Defoe referred to reports doubting his reoccurring injury as “frustrating”.

“It’s frustrating when people doubt you,” he told reporters. “In my career, I’ve never had any real injuries.”

Regardless, Toronto FC’s “Bloody Big Deal” will miss his 15th match of the season when the Reds finish on Saturday in New England.

And, with that, MLSE’s marketing team’s strategy blew up in its face.

Some Designated Players such as Beckham love the moment, the North American experiment. MLSE thought Jermain Defoe was that guy.

For a while, he was. At least until powerful forces outside the team began to influence him into leaning toward a move back to England.

Multiple clubs have already approached TFC about acquiring Defoe’s services come December, according to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” Defoe stated Thursday, “but I was desperate to get into the playoffs.”

Should the player be purchased, he will lose that opportunity, and the Reds will shop for an attacking midfield partner to play alongside Michael Bradley.

Brazilian striker Gilberto, the strike partner Defoe rarely seemed in sync with, will likely stay unless the Reds receive an outstanding offer.

The Reds believe they can get more out of Gilberto with the addition of a prominent attacking midfielder, a signing TFC simply must get right to avoid another mid-season circus.

When approached for comment regarding Defoe and another playoff-less season, the club’s front office — including MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke — said they plan to speak publicly following Saturday’s season-ender, a pending grilling you won’t want to miss.

To MLSE’s credit, however, at least they’re in the fight, buying and selling players with some of the top leagues worldwide.

At this point, though, it still hasn’t been good enough.

And TFC’s next major signing can’t be about a double-decker bus.

kurtis.larson@sunmedia.ca

@KurtLarSUN

blogs.canoe.ca/reds