That Boy Clint Dempsey

Clint Dempsey

“He scores with his left, he scores with his right, that boy Clint Dempsey make Drogba look shite”. Will the tribune at Craven Cottage be echoing with these lines next season? This season Clint Dempsey has set the Fulham record for most goals scored in an English Premier League season breaking Louis Saha’s and also set the single season and career mark for goals scored by an American in the Premiership. With Clint having such a phenomenal season by all accounts his value has skyrocketed which leads to an age old question that any mid level (even though I am a huge Fulham fan we all know that they are not at the same level as a Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal) team has in any sport, should they keep their best player or sell him and strengthen other parts of the squad.

Lets look at what we know, Dempsey has had his best season so far, his past couple seasons have been pretty good as well but this is the first one where his goal scoring has shown, we don't know if he will keep this up (yes he will) and he is not getting younger so there for right now Fulham can get the most cash for him. Also if Fulham wants to make a deep run at any of the trophies they will be playing for next season, they will need to bring in another forward, midfielder and a center defender. This of course costs money, which they can get by selling Dempsey. So if the price is right Fulham will let Clint Dempsey go.

Lets look at it from Dempsey’s point of view, he will not be moving to a team that is not at least playing in one of the two european tournaments. This leaves us with seven teams, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspurs, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Liverpool. I want to rule out Manchester City because he would not be a big enough signing, he does not have that international wow factor. City right now is basically trying to do what Real Madrid did in the late 90s and early 2000s, bringing in superstars and filling the rest of the roster with players from their youth system. Manchester United can also be eliminated for the time being because they have some many attacking midfielders that Dempsey would not get any playing time. Of course Giggs and Scholes are up there in age and Anderson should be on his way out, that would leave Dempsey competing with Nani, Antonio Valencia, Park Ji-Sung and Ashley Young, not that they are all better then him but Sir Alex Ferguson will play the hot hand. If anyone struggles at Man-U they are rotated out of the lineup. Chelsea is similar to Man City in that they bother sign the big name stars. Chelsea’s midfield is not as strong as it has been in the past and he could probably start for them but I do not see Clint moving to the other side of the neighborhood in London to play for the rivals.

This leaves us with Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle. Supposedly Arséne Wenger has shown interest in Dempsey and I think Arsenal would be a good fit for him however he would be in a similar situation like in Man-U that he would have to rotate with a number of other players, however at large clubs such as Arsenal that would be competing for 4 trophies you need the depth to survive the long season. At Tottenham I think he would be a great fit with all the other attacking midfielders however playing at left wing is the 22 year old Gareth Bale, Bale could move back to left back but I don't see that happening with the type of season he has had. Newcastle is making a strong push at a Champions League spot and if they pull it off they will be looking for some scoring power at a reasonable price. he could easily be the best midfielder on a squad that would have a chance of making it past the group stage. If Newcastle does not make it to the Champions League a move up north to the Toon would be looked at as almost being a lateral move. The Liverpool situation has become very interesting since thursday when they let go of their director of football operations in a move to have a major overhaul at the club this off season. I would assume that there will be midfielders coming and going in the upcoming offseason at Anfield Road, if you look at the current standings Liverpool is only three points up on Fulham and have a guaranteed spot in the Europa League since they have already won the Carling up and are still alive for the F.A. Cup. It would look like a lateral move, however they have the history and are still considered one of the top clubs in Europe with an American ownership group that is willing to spend money.

So to sum up what we have learned is that boy Clint Dempsey has an opportunity to do something that no American player has yet to do and could become one of the top offseason transfer moves. Depending on who the last five rounds of the EPL turn out Clint Dempsey will be playing for either Liverpool or Newcastle next season if he does not leave Fulham.

Then again he could also end up in a different league.