Which clubs have a Clint in their eyes?The stats say it all - but will Clint Dempsey get the chance he deserves at a top club next season?
Since the beginning of last season only Robin van Persie with 45 goals and Wayne Rooney with 37 have scored more than Dempsey's 28 in the Premier League.
Louis Saha scored 13 league goals in the 2003-04 season but the American has surpassed that Fulham record with 16 so far this campaign. And this is all from playing mainly in midfield.
Dempsey has food for thought this summer. With just a year left on his contract, I would be amazed if a team in the top seven doesn't sign him. He can play on either flank, up front by himself, partner a forward, play in the hole and he gives 100 per cent every game.
There is a question about his pace and whether his type of player can go to the next level. But I'm amazed that Liverpool, for example, spent £35million on Andy Carroll and £16m on Jordan Henderson - players without real pedigree in the Premier League - but overlooked Dempsey, who would cost nothing like as much, knows the Premier League and has at least another three seasons at the top.
There's always a risk trying to move on to better things. Shaun Wright-Phillips moved from Manchester City to Chelsea and it didn't work. Steve Sidwell swapped Reading for Chelsea and barely played. David Bentley thought he could make the move from Blackburn to Spurs but that didn't work.
But at 29 Dempsey is ready. Because he's stayed at Fulham so long, he'll be in a strong position to move to a bigger club this summer.
Manchester United and City don't need him with their squads. But Everton are looking and Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham and Chelsea could all do with Clint Dempsey. He's got a big decision to make this summer.
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