less than 24 hours after the club had been relegated, defoe made a written request for a transfer, saying, "as much as i love west ham united i feel that now is the right time for me to move on in my career. this is very much a career decision. i am very ambitious and hungry to achieve at the highest levels of the game for both club and country." the timing of his request, however, drew criticism from both fans and teammates and was turned down by the club. he later apologised to supporters, saying, "i mishandled that move and i can only apologise. i'm young and i've learned from it. i still played my hardest for west ham and gave them 100% and want to thank the fans for their support."