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Dempsey joining Sounders in reported $9 million transfer

Clint Dempsey

By IVES GALARCEP

Some seven years ago, Clint Dempsey left Major League Soccer as a rising star on the verge of being special. He now returns to MLS as an established star ready to make the biggest splash by an MLS signing since David Beckham joined the league.

Dempsey is set to complete a move to the Seattle Sounders, with the MLS club agreeing to a transfer with English Premier League side Tottenham, sources confirmed to SBI on Friday night. He will be formally presented by the club on Monday. ESPN FC first reported the deal as being close to completed earlier on Friday.

NBC is reporting that the deal to bring Dempsey to Seattle is valued at a $9 million transfer, and a contract worth $8 million a year over four years. Both the transfer fee and contract would be the largest in MLS history.

Dempsey leaves Spurs after just one season with the club following an almost $10 million transfer from Fulham last summer. He managed 12 goals and six assists in all competitions with Tottenham during the 2012/2013 season.

The move is a surprising one for a player who only a year earlier had pointed to UEFA Champions League play as his leading motivation, but at the age of 30, and with a chance to make a big long-term move back to MLS, Dempsey ultimately have decided Seattle’s offer was too good to pass up.

Dempsey joins a Seattle squad struggling at the moment in a season that has seen injuries and inconsistency keep the talent-filled club from fulfilling expectations. The arrival of Dempsey immediately makes Seattle a legitimate title contender with arguably the most dangerous attack in MLS.

What do you think of this development? Shocked by the money being spent on Dempsey, or are you excited to see MLS spend that kind of money on an American star? Disappointed to see Dempsey leave Europe?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Twellman is on twitter saying JK is not thrill with Clint’s move…..I am torn…..As a father of two I understand the come home and be set for life…I guess I am disppointed if Clint does not have the skill set to play for a CL level team then how can we take the USMNT national team seroiusly at the WC?????? JK spends a lot of time on the mental/confidence side of the game and in his view this cannot be a positive in the short-term (WC 2014) when your best player you just named captain over LD calls it quits packs it in and comes back to the US (granted, from Clint’s point of view for all the right reasons) and in long-term I think JK looks at this as a setback for the USMNT as well where will the best US palyer be approaching 2018???? Would JK have expected a CL level player on that team?

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  2. This move makes so little sense. Why do this in a World Cup year? Such disappointment as a USMNT fan. He needs to be sharpening his game against the best in the world, not dulling it down against the likes of DC United and Columbus Crew. Ugh, so short sided. A lot of respect lost for my man Deuce.

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  3. Has anyone considered the fact that he has an American wife living alone in London with thier child (children –not sure) add the fact that he will be away for long periods of time due to World Cup qualification as well as the World Cup, maybe he made a quality of life decsion and said “I’m going to end up in MLS eventually, Spurs isn’t making Champions League and I can make the same money.”

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  4. Guess I am a euro snob based on all the chatter here. I think this is a good move; I need to see MNT players in the first eleven to be drawn to a live MLS match. I’ll travel wherever in this country to see MNT…..not so much MLS. This kind of money being thrown around says more about Seattle fans than it does about league progress. I’m not up on how the league controls these kind of contracts.

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  5. Wow…why MLS? Here how I think it went down…..AVB and the new Italian Technical Director respected Clint enough to tell him we are going in a different direction and we do not want you to have a transfer window like last year. So, you and our agent can decide what you would like to do but you are surplus to the requirements: Clint sits down with his wife and agent and he realizes the Champions League Dream is over, so, they have two young children and it is time to bring the family back home. MLS has either already made an under the radar overture to Clint’s camp in the past…..and/or Clint makes contact while in Seattle playing for USMNT in June. 32 million for 4 years is 10 million more than he would have made at Spurs and if he moved to a lower EPL team he probably would have had to take a pay cut.

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  6. I don’t blame Dempsey for making this move. He had two years left at Spurs at 7 million per year and a higher tax rate. He’s getting 8 million a year for four years plus a percentage of the transfer fee and a lower tax rate. In two years, at age 32 the chances of him getting much smaller are significant. He’s doing the best thing for him and his family(he has four children). At the same time as a USMNT fan this makes me sad. I don’t think his skill will decline in MLS like some have stated. However, it’s nice watching American players do well in Europe.

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  7. I can’t wait until Soldado only scores 10 goals this season and is labeled a success. Spurs are not going to make the champion league this year. Daniel Levy will stick the Bale money in his company’s pocket, and Villa-Boras will either quit or be fired by easter.

    This is my prediction
    1. Man City
    2. Chelsea
    3. Man United (if they don’t sign Ronaldo, first if they do)
    4. Arsenal
    5. Liverpool
    6. Everton
    7. Spurs if they are lucky (Wishing they had Dempsey’s 12 to 15 goals)

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    • Eric…I love Clint and his game but you are crazy if you think Spurs are going to finish 7th in the EPL….based on the players they have picked up so far they will be in the hunt for CL….Soldado will have plenty of service even if Bale goes to RM…if Spurs sell Bale for 100 million Euros this week they are still about 50 million to the good and could pick up one a two more players with three weeks left in the window. Not to mention they may get a player from RM in the Bale deal….Spurs weaknees now is centerback and leftback.

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  8. Wait!!!… I just saw the future for a bit.. Clint decided to go to Seatlle so that his move to ROMA this winter would be easier!.. Maybe he wants loans to Roma during the MLS offseason as well?.. Yes, I’m sticking to my prediction

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