Jermain Defoe has agreed a highly incentivised deal at Sunderland, with his total wages partly determined by appearances, goals and the side’s League status.

The former England striker trained with Gus Poyet’s squad at the club’s Academy of Light weekday headquarters yesterday/on Wednesday after negotiating a three-and-a-half year contract with the club.

It is hoped the paperwork finalising his release from MLS side Toronto FC will be completed in time for Defoe to formally sign on the dotted line in time to make his debut at his old team, Tottenham Hotspur, on Saturday.

Defoe has already has passed a medical, having arrived from Canada in what seems almost certain to become a player plus cash part exchange arrangement also involving Jozy Altidore. It is understood to have furnished Defoe with a contract which could average out somewhere in the region of £70,000 a week.

It is an excellent offer for a 32-year-old but Sunderland believe a striker Poyet knows well from their time together at White Hart Lane can score the goals required to ensure Premier League survival.

The board’s hand was forced by intense competition for his services with a total of 10 Premier League clubs variously expressing interest in a forward who was adamant he needed the security of at least a three year contract.

Defoe is expected to become Sunderland’s highest-paid player after leaving Toronto following an unhappy 11-month spell in Major League Soccer during which he scored 11 goals in 16 games.

Currently hovering above the relegation zone, Sunderland are desperate for goals having managed only 18 in 21 league games this season. They trust the one time West Ham and Spurs forward will not only prove the catalyst required to transform their penalty area fortunes but that, by increasing attacking competition, Defoe can help bring out the best in the latterly less than prolific Connor Wickham and Steven Fletcher.

If that pair have struggled of late, Altidore’s time on Wearside in the wake of his £6.5m move from AZ Alkmaar 18 months ago has been positively traumatic with the USA striker having failed to score a Premier League goal for more than a year.

The 25-year-old remains a big hero in the US though and is believed to have agreed terms with Toronto, leaving both parties waiting for the switch to be ratified by the MLS. Although this is expected to happen there is a potential, albeit unlikely, complication which could see Altidore instead joining New York Red Bulls and Sunderland arranging a straight cash deal with Toronto for Defoe.

As Altidore has previously played in the MLS for New York Red Bulls between 2006 and 2008, he must go through the MLS “re-allocation process” before his transfer to Toronto can rubber stamped

Under the re-allocation regulations, teams are given a ranking which determines who has priority to sign a player returning to the league and all MLS returnees must initially be offered to teams with the highest ranking.

Toronto are currently sixth behind Montreal Impact, San Jose Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids, Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo in that pecking order but none are thought to be interested in Altidore.

The waters are muddied slightly by the ability of lower ranked sides to pay a fee to swap positions with those nearer the top of the list. Accordingly the biggest threat to Toronto landing Altidore is the possibility that New York Red Bulls - who have hinted they could be keen on their old centre forward - hi-jacking the deal in exchange for a cash settlement with the Canadians.

Alternatively, Toronto could succeed in pressing the case for the MLS regarding Altidore as a “designated players” - an individual exempt from the re-allocation process - as happened with Clint Dempsey when he returned to the US to join Seattle Sounders in 2013.