The United States of America’s forward Clint Dempsey has returned to his homeland after six and a half seasons playing in the English Premier League. Dempsey opted to return to the MLS where he started his career despite interest from Everton in his services.
The United States of America’s forward Clint Dempsey has returned to his homeland after six and a half seasons playing in the English Premier League. Dempsey opted to return to the MLS where he started his career despite interest from Everton in his services.
The 30- year old American came to prominence while at Furman University where he spent two years playing college soccer. He was selected the 8th overall pick by New England Revolution in the 2004 MLS Super Draft. He spent two seasons with New England where he was selected as the 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year.
Dempsey first moved to England after am impressive showing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Fulham agreed a reported £2m deal with MLS in December of 2006 for the services of the American. Dempsey didn’t receive his work permit until January of 2007 and made his debut for Fulham on January 20 of that year.
He spent 5 and a half seasons with the Cottagers scoring 50 Premier League goals while also featuring in the Europa League final in May 2010 against Atletico Madrid. Last summer however Dempsey made it clear he wanted to leave Craven Cottage as he felt he needed a new challenge. It wasn’t until deadline day he moved to North London to Tottenham Hotspurs to play under Andre Villas-Boas.
Dempsey featured in 29 league games for Tottenham scoring seven goals while scoring 2 goals in ten appearances in the Europa League. The highlights of his season was scoring the winner for Spurs against Manchester United at Old Trafford and scoring an injury time equalizer against the Red Devils at White Hart Lane.
After a relatively good season with Tottenham, it seems the American opted to return home as Spurs confirmed on their website on Saturday that they had reached an agreement with MLS for his services. The statement read: ‘We have reached an agreement with Major League Soccer for the transfer of Clint Dempsey. We wish Clint every success for the future.’ The deal is reported to be around £6m.
The 30 year old was unveiled by the Seattle Sounders Saturday night and he was added to their roster as a designated player. Dempsey said: ‘I thought I was going to start with Tottenham but the MLS and Seattle moved mountains to get me here. I’m happy to come back in my prime and be able to make a difference and not when I am past it.’
Dempsey admitted that he loved the atmosphere in Seattle so he was happy to sign with them. He stated: ‘I am very excited about coming back to the MLS and thrilled to be joining Sounders. Having recently played in Seattle with the national team, I experienced the incredible atmosphere and the passion from the supporters first-hand. It’s going to be an honour to represent the fans in Seattle.’
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