Dempsey on Liverpool-website

[LBNo11]

I dont think he will ever have a golden season like last year again, we have to cash in

This is the key question, isn't it? It's a bit of a gamble, but, presumably, we have a sensible figure in mind at which we would be prepared to deal. It's a tricky one to work out quite what that price might be, if indeed he is willing to leave. If no one comes up with the right price he stays where he is for a year.

Clint Dempsey is not a Fulham fan (at least not in the way that we are), he is a professional sportsman. Whatever is decided he has been an absolute diamond for us. A terrific signing and a proper Fulham hero. He was, for a long time, denied (in some quarters) the respect he deserved, that respect should not be deminished should he go elsewhere. Any departure would be, at this time, a two-way process.

...I agree with you cmg, he was my favourite player and I am sorry to say that I have been resigned to him going since his last appearance and farewells. He has been a great servant for the club, he cost $4 million, just four million dollars, and even the most died in the wool critic will have to admit that we have had more than our monies worth out of him.

Sell now with one year on his contract and we will not get much for him, £6 million seems a slap in the face for what many of think he is worth, but with the contract drawing to a close and him being 29 years old it is realistic, and we will still have made a profit on the deal.

In a way I would have rather have let him run his contract out with us and release him on a free whilst having him have to prove his worth to potential employers in his last season with us upping his game yet again as he has season on season and thus benefiting us before his move.

He may be all but gone, but he will never be a Judas to me. He has respected his employers and it's customers and increased the profile of the company - to ask for more is ungrateful and churlish...

[VicHalomsLovechild]

As mentioned before, it's business. He wants CL but doesn't look like any CL club wants him. There's more chance of Liverpool getting a CL spot next season than us. 6 or 7 mill will go a long way to restocking. I don't see holding on to players as showing no ambition, it's risky letting top players go but the Club must have asked him about an extension and he would of made his desire known then.

Good luck to Clint whatever he decides to do  :54:

[Rupert]

We could easily up dempseys wage by what 15-20k to rival liverpool. This wont break the bank nor ruin us as the wage limit is there.

With all due respect, I disagree with this completely. The wage limit is there because that is what we can afford. We play in a sub-30,000 seater ground with severely limited non-matchday income, we get on live TV the bare minimum number of times every season as we lack a sufficiantly large enough fan base to excite the Sky executives, there is only so much money to go around. Upping Clint Dempsey's wages by 15-20k per week, roughly an extra million a year, would have a knock on effect across the squad, the other top pros would expect something extra as well, or dressingroom harmony could easily suffer. We barely break even/make a small loss now, the extra money simply is not there.
It is not about lack of ambition (we, the fans, showed that when we insisted on coming back to the Cottage all those years ago), it is about not being stupid and following the likes of Leeds United.

Liverpool have a larger fan-base, much bigger ground, have far greater TV exposure (and payments to match it), frankly they can blow us away on wages.
The big question is, are they making a mistake. If we have just seen Clint's best season ever (a high probability I think), in a few years from now we will look back on this transfer (assuming it happens) with a wry chuckle, Liverpool getting stiffed by both us and Clint, who went on to enjoy a fantastic payday as a reward for his magnificent contribution to our cause.
If we refuse to let him go, we keep a disaffected player for twelve months who probably won't be as prolific as we think he should, how long before the boo-boys are telling him to go if he can't be bothered?

And, after that Juventus goal, I seriously doubt if I could ever dislike Clint, let alone hate him.

[Logicalman]

This could well fall into the category of "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." and if so, then its some scousers wet dream gone too far.

If this pans out, then that's it, thanks for all the fish Clint, but sod you now, and watch that door on your way out - we don't want a damaged door.

If it falls under Twain, then we look forward to another great season with our star Yank.

[cottage cheese]

we all have different opinions and ways we want to see the club operate for the better which is fine.

However, it is clear after a fine season we risk taking step backwards yet again. We have never pushed on after a season, as something has always set us back with managers changing etc.

This upcoming season could be the best ever if you take into account the fact we have a stable manager (finally!) we have a fantastic mix of young and old which will improve week after week and we have some fine players on our books which we need to keep.

Dempsey is one who knows this club inside out, he is our match winner, the one we look to for goals. IF we do let him go for a small fee we will be taking that step backwards as quite frankly anything less than 10mil will not allow us to buy a quality player to replace him. That is why we should either lock swords with clubs and demand a fee or just hold onto him and push on for a great finish. Selling him for a small fee is not an option in my eyes

[The Rock]

If he goes, as long as an able replacement is found that does more or less an equal job is what matters.

[TonyGilroy]

We are assuming that Liverpool have made an offer but even if they have we don't know how much or what our bottom line is.

We didn't let Schwarzer leave cheaply and probably won't with Dempsey but the probability is that the fee will be announced as "unconfirmed" so we won't be any the wiser.

Because the club has the right to keep him to his contract the amount offered will have to be acceptable and not a pittance.

God (and a few FFC insiders) alone knows who we might have lined up as a replacement of course. And the cost which we also won't be told.

[Jack Fulham]

Wenger has said he would ratehr let rvp go for free next year than sell him for a small fee. DW has slapped a price on moses and refusing to budge..spurs did the same last year with modric.. Yes they had longer on their contracts but we show no intention of making it hard for teams sniffing around.
Why the hell cant we? What have got to lose by doing so? If the fee is £6 million...that will not buy us a replacement suitable to step in and take over from dempsey so why bloody accept it.
What have we really got to lose..dempsey won us 17 points last season..that is far to great to just let him go

That is the ambition this club lacks.

Yet we haven't lost any of these players yet......  we've survived offers for Schwarzer and Hangeland has supposedly been leaving for the last 6 transfer windows so it is foolish we haven't made it hard for teams sniffing around! We can't force them to accept contracts.

and the foundation of this rumour is just

[HatterDon]

but going to liverpool makes no sense..they will not offer more than 75k a week for him due to his age and thats a fact. Its well known that our highest wage is 50k. Selling him for 6 million will not get us very far these days.  This club needs to start showing some ambition. We have released aj,riise, ive heard ethuhu and baird are on their way as well. We could easily up dempseys wage by what 15-20k to rival liverpool. This wont break the bank nor ruin us as the wage limit is there. By keeping dempsey there is no need to buy another player to take over therefore it is sensible to do all we can to keep him.

This has nothing to do with 'ambition'.

Dempsey doesnt want to sign a new contract. Why would he turn down an extra £25k A WEEK to stay here when he wants to go anyway?

Something NOT from the made up world of twitter to document that Dempsey has refused to sign a new contract.

Something NOT from the made up world of British gutter press that documents that Dempsey -- in doing so -- was offered 25k more a week.

Fulham Football Club is famed for keeping its transfers, etc. under wraps. How is it that you are so aware of these details when they're not published?

[valdeingruo]

All i know is if he stays or goes he will always be a Fulham hero in my eyes. Who thought the "too many fancy flicks, falls over all the time, american from the ne revolution" would mature into a amazing player with us. From his first goal against Liverpool all the way to Juventus he has been key to us. Sometimes he frustrates us, sometimes he makes us look at the truely amazing player he is. (that volley against stoke for instance) Other supporters might not value him like we do and think hes not worth the "risk" but in my opinion the effort he has put in day in and day out and the passion every time he puts on the shirt. Hes put his shift in and earned the right to choose.                                                 

How would you like it if whatever your job was earned you constant speculation that you were moving offices, firms, etc Would drive you nuts wouldnt it

Let him choose in peace



Always a great player in white lets see where time takes us.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

but going to liverpool makes no sense..they will not offer more than 75k a week for him due to his age and thats a fact. Its well known that our highest wage is 50k. Selling him for 6 million will not get us very far these days.  This club needs to start showing some ambition. We have released aj,riise, ive heard ethuhu and baird are on their way as well. We could easily up dempseys wage by what 15-20k to rival liverpool. This wont break the bank nor ruin us as the wage limit is there. By keeping dempsey there is no need to buy another player to take over therefore it is sensible to do all we can to keep him.

This has nothing to do with 'ambition'.

Dempsey doesnt want to sign a new contract. Why would he turn down an extra £25k A WEEK to stay here when he wants to go anyway?

Something NOT from the made up world of twitter to document that Dempsey has refused to sign a new contract.

Something NOT from the made up world of British gutter press that documents that Dempsey -- in doing so -- was offered 25k more a week.

Fulham Football Club is famed for keeping its transfers, etc. under wraps. How is it that you are so aware of these details when they're not published?

1) He might be desperate to sign a new contract, but has not done so yet, which would leave me to believe he is not going to sign a new one (at least until Sep 1st). Yes this is speculation, but the fact he has not signed one yet and only has a year left on his contract are the only details we have available to us.

2) My comments were a response to CC- his argument was that Liverpool would probably only pay £25k more a week, my point was that is a lot of money. I dont know the figures, I am not speculating on the figures, I was just pointing out that any player would not forego a significant wage increase.

[cottage cheese]

@ al fayeds

My point isSelling him for half his value will not solve anything as yes we can sign a player but the question will be can they replicate dempseys worth ?...my answer is no for the fee that is branded around on sk sports (6 mil with add ons)

he said he wants champs football and that is the reason he obviously does not want to sign. we do not have to accept liverpools offer as he wants champs football which they dont have. I think we have to make a stand here and not be bullied around here. Unless the offer is acceptable and worth dempseys contribution then yes sell him..

I would rather keep him and see what happens, if no other club comes sniffing around for him then we can bet a year later at 31 the same can be said again and we have got another year of him.

[mccscratch]

All i know is if he stays or goes he will always be a Fulham hero in my eyes. Who thought the "too many fancy flicks, falls over all the time, american from the ne revolution" would mature into a amazing player with us.

For the record... from the days of the OFFAL when he first signed with us.... I always said he would become a fantastic player for us... and they pissed on me left and right for it....  OW, Tizzard, Patton... all said I was a fool... who is the fool now as we might be selling him for 10 million + and been to a Europa League Final...

[AlFayedsChequebook]

@ al fayeds

My point isSelling him for half his value will not solve anything as yes we can sign a player but the question will be can they replicate dempseys worth ?...my answer is no for the fee that is branded around on sk sports (6 mil with add ons)

he said he wants champs football and that is the reason he obviously does not want to sign. we do not have to accept liverpools offer as he wants champs football which they dont have.

I would rather keep him and see what happens, if no other club comes sniffing around for him then we can bet a year later at 31 the same can be said again and we have got another year of him.

I agree with you we should not sell below his value, but the club will have a figure in mind and if they are offered that or above he will go. The figure would almost certainly take into account what he is worth to us for the upcoming season (the difference between 15th and 7th, say) how difficult it will be to bring in a younger replacement and the overall financial position of the club. Mackintosh and the latest incarnation of the board have not bowed to pressure from buying clubs - Smalling was sold for a very fair £12m, Schwarzer was barred from leaving, we never even listened to offers for Hangeland.

It is therefore my belief that if we do sell him, it will be for the right amount and the right reasons.

So back to the original point - ambition is about what is best for the club, not about what sounds exciting to newspapers

[Admin]

All i know is if he stays or goes he will always be a Fulham hero in my eyes. Who thought the "too many fancy flicks, falls over all the time, american from the ne revolution" would mature into a amazing player with us.

For the record... from the days of the OFFAL when he first signed with us.... I always said he would become a fantastic player for us... and they pissed on me left and right for it....  OW, Tizzard, Patton... all said I was a fool... who is the fool now as we might be selling him for 10 million + and been to a Europa League Final...

Them 3 idiots don't even know which day of the week it is, so I wouldn't take it personally.