My mate Defoe would be a big hit at Chelsea

"He also wants to play in the Champions League and Chelsea have a much better opportunity of doing so than Tottenham.

"But it is not up to me. It's for Jermain and his advisers and I don't think there is any hurry. He seems pretty happy at Tottenham. He's scoring goals, so there is no reason for him to leave now."

Defoe is expected to recover from a knee injury to partner Robbie Keane in tomorrow's FA Cup third-round clash at White Hart Lane.

It will be an unusual situation for Defoe and Knight, whose early success was so closely intertwined.

As well as starring for Senrab, they also played together for junior sides at Charlton and Spurs. Chelsea, however, won the race to sign 16-year-old Knight - who was widely tipped as a future England star - and awarded him a five-year contract. Defoe, meanwhile, joined Charlton before switching to West Ham and finally to Spurs for £7million.

The rest of Knight's tale is more complicated. Ignored by Claudio Ranieri, he did not even make the bench for a Premiership match at Chelsea. After loan spells at Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield, he was sold to Brighton for £100,000 in 2003. He scored 27 goals in last season's promotion campaign but this year has proved more difficult in the Championship.

It is a huge contrast to Defoe whose impressive Spurs performances have turned him into an England international, but Knight shows no signs of envy.

He said: "He is pulling up trees at the moment and I am really happy for him. If he does well, it also opens doors for me. We are both similar size and stature. His success shows that smaller strikers can make it at the top level. Hopefully, he will keep doing well but, of course, not tomorrow. I will always be close to him until we are dead and gone. In east London, people have still got bets that the pair of us will play for England. They stand to win thousands of pounds if I get a call-up.

"At Senrab, the coach put us into groups of three to practise our passing. I was with Jermain and we just clicked.

"He would come round to my house to watch football videos. Football was our interest at that age: we would study the techniques of Pele or Maradona. Ian Wright was another hero and we even tried to emulate his goal celebrations. I think Jermain still does.

"We scored countless goals for Senrab, we connected really well as a partnership. We were Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole before they even happened."

Knight has no regrets at signing for Chelsea, but he would not advise other talented teenagers to commit themselves to the Premiership leaders.

He said: "I still think joining Chelsea was the right move. There were so many good players to learn from - Gianfranco Zola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Marcel Desailly. But if a young player came to me for advice now, I would say don't go to Chelsea. Clubs like Charlton, West Ham and Fulham are better alternatives.

"If they get injuries, you might get your chance in the first team and, if you do well, they will keep you there.

"At Chelsea, they did not want to risk throwing a young kid into the first team and it not working out."