Clint Dempsey's record-setting season may have him on the verge of a summer transfer to a bigger club, but if it's up to Fulham, he'll be staying at Craven Cottage for at least a few more years.
Fulham has reportedly begun talks with Dempsey — who turns 29 today — over a new three-year deal in an effort to hold onto their marquee attacker. Dempsey, who has expressed an interest in getting the chance to compete on the UEFA Champions League stage, is under contract with the Cottagers through the end of the 2012-13 season.
Dempsey has already set a career-high with 18 goals in all competitions this season, and his 12 Premier League goals match his personal best — and the record for an American in the Premiership — that he set last season. His next chance to get on the scoresheet will be Saturday, when Fulham faces Aston Villa.
Here are a few more stories to get your Friday going:
NO MORE CUTS NEEDED AT RANGERS
After another series of twists and turns, it appears that no more player cuts will be necessary at Rangers.
The financial crisis that has swept up the Scottish powerhouse was on the verge of resulting in massive cuts across the roster, but a few players have stepped up to take major pay cuts that will save the club enough money per month that it should not have to release anybody else.
Steven Whittaker, Steven Davis, Alan McGreggor and Steven Naismith have reportedly accepted 75 percent wage cuts that will help stem the tide. Negotiations with players over wage cuts were underway earlier this week before talks halted without an agreement. Players reportedly wanted clauses in their contracts that would allow them to leave on a free transfer this summer.
METAPAN TAKES EDGE IN CCL
Lester Blanco's two goals helped lead Isidro Metapan to a surprise 2-1 win at home over Mexican side Pumas UNAM, giving the Salvadorian club the slight advantage heading into next week's return leg in their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal tie.
Blanco scored in each half, with the eventual match-winner coming in the 49th minute.
Pumas salvaged an away goal and put itself in a more favorable spot heading home in the 67th minute, when Eduardo Herrera came up with a tally to cut the deficit in half.
The winner of their tie will play the winner of the Monterrey-Morelia quarterfinal in the next round.
KOMPANY OUT TWO WEEKS
Manchester City centerback Vincent Kompany is out for the next two weeks after suffering a calf injury in the club's UEFA Europa League loss to Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.
Kompany was forced out of the match in the seventh minute, and while the injury does not appear to be serious, the integral defender will have to miss some time. With just 11 matches remaining in the Premier League season and City nursing a two-point lead over rival Manchester United, his absence comes at a tough time. City plays at Swansea City on Sunday.
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What do you make of Fulham offering Dempsey an extension? Relieved to see that no more players will be cut at Rangers? Can you see Metapan knocking off Pumas and advancing to the CCL semifinals? Think Kompany's injury will affect the title race?
Share your thoughts below.
Where would he fit at arsenal? What with talks of podolski coming in if rvp leaves, I guess he could move out left in a 4-3-3. Then they would have to make chamberlain take a back seat while Walcott takes the right. Or switch back to a 4-4-2 with duece in a reserved striker role.
Don’t really understand the talk of him going to Liverpool. They’re not in going to be in the Champions League next season and frankly aren’t that much better of a team than Fulham is right now anyway. I guess they can offer him more money, but I doubt that’s much of a concern for Deuce at this stage of his career.
In terms of some of the players like Boca, Bedoya, or Edu, just because they’re not redundant already or taking a paycut with an exit clause doesn’t mean they still can’t put in a transfer request for the summer (or even be asked to consider it by the team itself). They might not have a contract clause saying Thou Shalt Sell Me but then most players probably don’t and they can still get sold. Rangers might have staved off the taxman and liquidation for the time being but I’d not be surprised if they did some “fundraising” this summer to help make ends meet.
I knew I liked you.
Ew! I don’t want to see Deuce in those putrid colors and that disgusting uniform.
They’re 8th place and he played in a European final a few years ago and they beat the likes of Juve, Wolfsburg, Hamburg, and took Atletico to extra time…
Fulham is not Wolves or QPR, they’re more like Everton and Aston Villa at this point and trending up over the past few years, in largre part, because of Clint.
If he stays will Fulham he’ll continue to be key for them and now that they’re expanding Craven Cottage the revival could potentially lead them to challenge for Cups, regular Europa League spots, and maybe Champions League. Look at Tottenham a few years back to now.
Should Dempsey go to a bigger club?
I’m surprised a team that needs an effective finisher (looking at most of the teams in the EPL) hasn’t forced him out with a big contract. I know that he’s 29, but he’s worth a two year contract at the least.
if considering his family and whether they have any problems with a potential move abroad, he could always move to Arsenal/London. If Arsenal, he wouldn’t have to move at all.
yep Howard is where he should be. A solid keeper for a top 10 PL club.
+1 Actually I was hoping Edu would get cut, too, so he could go play in France.
Liverpool will return to the CL, Fulham may never reach there. Juventus was not in the CL this past season, but you know they will return.
He needs to go back to Furman.
Needs to go on loan this summer to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
While playing for Fulham Clint did become the first Yank to ever play in a European Club final. He has two small children and if his family is settled, staying for one last big contract at Fulham is probably his best option. My guess is he goes the Brede Hangeland route and he lets the transfer talk heat up and then takes the biggest possible offer from Fulham in the summer. I am guessing some Italian clubs are at least making inquiries which will increase his value. His goal against their national team and his chip against Juventus must have stirred up some transfer interest in Italy.
ditto.
Its actually very unlikely howard could do much better than Everton. He is about right where he should be. As an Everton supporter who watches every single everton game and has even been to 5 games at Goodison(i live in the USA), I can tell you that myself and many other Everton fans have been disappointed with Howard this season. Not to say he is not a good keeper (he is actually my favorite player as well), but he has particular flaws that really limit his game (e.g., not a great at saving long distant shots, chooses to punch instead of catch the ball to often, does not dominate the box in the air as well as he could, and he is mediocre at distribution). While he is an excellent shot stopper with good reactions he is also prone to the odd mistake (He has literally just dropped some shots and crosses this year and last) that led to some strange goals.
Howard is a good keeper at a top 10 EPL side who has finished 7th, 8th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th, and 4th (that is off the top of my head so it could be a little off) over the last few years and will finish in the top 10 this year as well (yes I realize they are outside the top 10 atm, but we have a game in hand and have a lot more quality than stoke, Norwich, fulham and even newcastle). This is his level.
+1
That sucks. I was hoping Bedoya would be cut and have to come to the MLS.
Liverpool is currently seventh in the PL, while Fulham is eighth. They aren’t a CL team. Arsenal just got eliminated in the first knockout round of the CL. So he could stay at Fulham and have a realistic shot of playing meaningful minutes in Europe (albeit the Europa League) or go to a bigger club, ride the pine a significant amount of the time, and get bounced out of the CL early. Those are the options, and I can’t understand why some of you would still have him go. Personally, I think he’ll stay. Maybe it’s wishful thinking by a Fulham fan, but I can’t see Dempsey being happy unless he’s playing ninety minutes. (Have you seen how he reacts when he’s substituted?) As for France, why would you want him to move to an inferior league just to play a handful of CL games? Just do the math, that makes no sense. Just for the *possibility* that he could play against Barca, Madrid, Milan, or Inter?
Clint deserves to be in the CL. He’s at his peak right now and arguably “world class”
indeed. Buying that Russian was Genius. But without Clint, they’d definitely be number18 or 19 right now without a doubt.
Fulham also erected a statue for Michael Jackson.
Have you seem them play recently?
They have looked pretty damn good… if they could keep this same rotation of 15 players next season with Diarra in there as well.. they may well finish top 6…
Like Gladiator.. Clint has won his freedom.
THANK YOU! I’m not from there, never been there, no particular interest, but few things drive me crazier for some reason than hearing FSC or ESPN announcers refer to Matapan or their national team or whomever as “El Salvadorian”.
I mean, read some of the comments related to Howard re-upping with Everton….I’m sure he could “do better,” too….
From Martin Jol –
“We are talking to him,” Jol said. “At any club, you want to keep your best players so that is what we try hard to do. If Clint Dempsey wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be in this position because we have had to rely on him a lot of times to score goals.
“He is here for at least another year so that is not a big problem. The problem is that we want to keep him here for longer. But the difference is not very big.
“He has 17 months left and we want to keep him here for the next three years. I hope the four or five players we are talking to will stay. I am confident they will. They realise it is a very good club.”
As a Fulham fan I’m just going to put out there that they build statues of the guy, name pubs after him, and generally idolize him.
I also think that Fulham is presently 8th, and on the move upwards with Pogrebnyak in and Zamora plying his trade for the F1 team in W12. I still think we can compete for Europe. Maybe not UCL this year but still Europa.
I also think that the trade off for the added money and UCL potential elsewhere is less assurance of a lineup spot. He has risen where he has behind a regular place with Fulham and there is career risk in rolling the dice on what’s behind Door 2.
or please
He is in a side where he can be given a lot of responsibility and control, and it has obviously been a major factor in him finding such great form. Starship Troopers is 100% right on that.
Yes, players should always been keen on taking the bigger challenges and the next step on, but if he ends up at a bigger club in England or abroad, there are a lot of variables that come along with that, the main one being that he will be fighting for minutes, and if he isn’t in form he is not playing.
I don’t think people should be so quick to dismiss Dempsey’s growth/success and the situation @ Fulham as mutually exclusive.
All that being said, I think this is his chance to move on and take the next step wherever that might be. I don’t think it will be in England unfortunately for me (I am EPL centric)
I also can’t spell a simple word like simply.
Eff off! Selfishly, I want him to stay on the team I support, simpley because he’s the best player on the Club. Pelase Sign!!!
Unselfishly, if he goes to a bigger club and plays Champions League it will be good for US Soccer, given he actually plays.
Either way COYW!!!!!
Great situation ? They have 9 wins, this is not a lot, but without him, they have a lot less.
Clint needs to go to a CL side in France – I think that’s where hell have the best chance to play consistently both in league play and in the CL stages. I think the CL sides this year in France are PSG, Montpellier, and Lille. I think he could start on all of those sides consistently given the following:
PSG – He plays a more central attacking role higher up the pitch since they have Nene on the left and Pastore usually playing centrally in midfield.
Montpellier – Should be able to start anywhere in the midfield (high centrally or left sided)
Lille – Hazard moves on this summer to Arsenal or Chelsea as is expected. Pretty safe to say he has the left side locked up, although he could play the withdrawn forward role without much stiff competition.
I’m not sure if Totti is ready to retire, though his huge drop in goal scoring this year may indicate it’s time. If he does, I could see Deuce being a solid replacement for Totti at Roma in the withdrawn forward role. Serie A would be a good fit for his skillset.
That’s what I think, too…
I hope he doesn’t sign
me either, for some reason. But the grass is not always greener. He is in a great situation at fulham and should stay.
Exactly. It’s a way for Fulham to gain maximum value for Clint and at this moment his value has never been so high. You see players all the time sign am extension and then months later transfer. Someone as loyal as Clint has been to Fulham, he’ll probably want the club to be “rewarded”, too.
Fulham signing Deuce to an extension doesn’t necessarily mean he will stay…It might actually drive the price up for him which is most likely Fulham’s intention.
lol
Salvadoran
Highest paid player at Fulham was Zamora at on 40,000 pounds. I believe AJ, Ruiz and Dempsey was close. They will have to break the bank to pay Clint enough for him to stay. Like 50 K and offer him more than 3 year contract.
so basically Edu is leaving this summer and Bedoya is leaving but unsure where? Is Boca heading back to France?
realistically if he stays in the PL, I would hope he goes to Liverpool or Arsenal. He could be vital to them and start 75% of the games next season. Plus he’d get a wage boost and be playing for a historically big club.
but if he goes abroad, say France- Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Spain- Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Italy- Palermo, Roma, Juventus, Napoli
I don’t see him heading to Germany
Happy Birthday Clint
Clint is heading to a CL club somewhere. Either that’s in the CL next season or 1 that is usually in it and fighting to return
If he does not take the offer, he will be transfered this summer.
He needs to go to Barcelona or Real Madrid!
don’t sign