There can’t have been many more bonkers swap deals in football history than on this day (January 16) a decade ago between Sunderland and Toronto FC. It still leaves you rubbing your eyes in disbelief.

Black Cats’ fans will remember it well as their club snapped up a genuine quality striker in Jermain Defoe (now OBE) while offloading one-goal front man Jozy Altidore.

Perhaps unfairly, six years ago, Altidore was ranked fifth in Four Four Two’s top 50 worst Premier League players in history. The Daily Mail ranked him No 1 in the worst striker category.

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Now that takes some doing and the American won’t have been flattered by the accolade. But credit where credit’s due, not all of us can say we have played in the Premier League so in that respect he deserves some slack. However, what is fair to say is there would have been wild fluctuations on the Go Compare website when considering whether Altidore and Defoe were on a par. Back in 2015 it would have been a bit like purchasing a brand new Kia Sedona with the best intentions before realising it was a dud, then having it willfully taken off your hands in exchange for a top-of-the-range Volkswagen Golf.

It was said of the Sedona, ‘it has the vibe of a posh lounge, but the luxury lifestyle vanishes as soon as you pull away from the curb.’ In contrast, the Golf attracted a more appealing catchline which stated, ‘despite its compact size, the Golf provides the ride, handling, and quietness of a more expensive car.’

The same could be said when reflecting on the merits of 6ft 1inch Altidore and the 5ft 6inch Defoe.

It didn’t end there either in terms of Sunderland lucking out with the deal. They received a fee from the Canadian outfit too. Which was a bit like buying a luxury house and on completion being gifted it and told you needn’t have bothered arranging finance because Approved Mortgage Solutions Limited would be paying you instead.

So it wasn’t just a case of the Wearsiders being able to have their cake and eat it, they were handed keys to a new bakery too.

To be fair to Altidore he actually scored three goals in all competitions for Sunderland, albeit in 52 appearances. He only scored one goal in 42 league games, though, and while he had the odd good game, he didn’t set the world alight. But some fans backed him. While they generally agreed he was wasn’t the best, some argued he was playing in a poor team at that time and a striker can only work off the chances they are given. They were few and far between in Sunderland’s case.

One supporter said of the Mail’s poll. “Pretty harsh in my opinion. He played for Hull City and then Sunderland. Did he really have a chance? In recent memory Roberto Soldado and Vincent Jannsen have been pretty awful in a very good team. I’d say they’re both bigger PL flops than Jozy.”

Altidore joined Sunderland on July 5, 2013, from AZ Alkmaar and he signed a four-year deal. It was reported that Sunderland paid AZ a $13million transfer fee (around £10m) – incredible on reflection. The forward’s first goal for the Black Cats came on August 27, 2013, spurring a dramatic late comeback in the League Cup, in which MK Dons were defeated 4–2.

In Altidore’s first Tyne-Wear derby, he put in a man-of-the-match performance in during a 2–1 win and on December 4, 2013, he scored his one and only league goal for Sunderland to give them a 1–0 lead against Chelsea, a game which eventually finished 3–4.

That was about as rosy as it got for Jozy.

He was eventually dropped to the U21s and ended the 2013/14 season with two goals in 37 appearances, and by October 2014, he had made just six appearances and scored one goal. Altidore is said to have told reporters, “If it doesn’t turn around in January I’ll be looking to start elsewhere,” as he wanted to stay in contention to play in the USA national team.

Ex-England forward Defoe had left Tottenham Hotspur for Canada in January 2014 on a four-year deal said to be worth between £68,000-£90,000 per week. A year later he was on his way back to England, and Sunderland, with Altidore heading the other way.

Defoe was a massive success with the Wearside fans between 2015 and 2017 after arriving as a 32-year-old. He scored his first Sunderland goal on his home debut in a 2–0 victory over Burnley on January 31, 2015 and never looked back. Perhaps the highlight was scoring the only goal in the Tyne–Wear derby victory over Newcastle with a stunning 22-yard volley to end a sequence of eight matches without a win, and their first victory under the management of Dick Advocaat.

It was said the emotion of scoring that goal caused him to cry. Over in Canada, Toronto officials may have had the same reaction on the realisation they had spent money, plus parted with Defoe, to bring in Altidore. In a former guise, the club was badged Toronto Blizzard and maybe the decision-makers were blinded at the key moment.

Under what was dubbed “the Beckham Rule”, MLS teams are allowed to sign up to three “designated players” outside the salary cap, and by January 2015 Toronto had decided to dispense with theirs and try to bring Altidore and his USA team-mate Michael Bradley back from Europe.

“One of our real emphasis was finding guys who can cooperate with each other on and off the field, who got along,” coach Greg Vanney explained. “We’d come out of the era of Jermain Defoe and (Brazilian striker) Gilberto (who was loaned to Vasco da Gama), who didn’t get along on the field. We knew those two (Altidore and Bradley) had a great connection.”

Altidore would go on to reveal that off-field issues had affected his form at Sunderland and also said that a clandestine meeting with Vanney in the basement of a London pub was instrumental in his eventual move to Toronto.

As for Defoe, then Sunderland manager Gus Poyet - who had worked with the player at Tottenham Hotspur and was able to set up the swap as a result - described the striker as, “having an exceptional goal-scoring record which speaks for itself.” That was most certainly the case and after later spells at AFC Bournemouth and Rangers, it was fitting he should end his career on Wearside when he returned to the Stadium of Light for an encore. While that spell ended quickly, he remains a hero in the city for both his goalscoring exploits and his relationship with cancer-stricken youngster Bradley Lowery, which captured Defoe's heart and the hearts of the country.

Ten years on, supporters are still wondering how the Black Cats were able to pull off such an audacious swoop. They came to love Defoe, even though Altidore hadn’t enjoyed the same adulation. A case of the misfit and the hit.