Fulham Yourself If You Don't Believe It: Dempsey VI

With all the internationals and particularly Euro 2012 going on, the market is going to move fairly slowly until July. Also, Dempsey also may be a secondary option for a lot of teams and once other players move things will become clearer.

 

According to transfermarkt Clint's value is 13m euros so yeah right around $15m. After Clint's years of being a loyal and positive contributor to Fulham I kind of doubt they will make his exit unpleasant for him, and a couple mil more or less really does not matter to al-Fayad ultimately. Fair value yes, but transfermarkt price, probably not unless a bidding war breaks out. Given the contract situation and Clint's age I'm guessing Fulham lets Clint go for a little less than that.

And I agree with other comments that the market will be slow til Euros conclude, so we may have - Clint's transfer price and destination - to kick around most of the summer, before something finally happens.

 

Ojos de cebollas

 

I think for the morale of the team, it would be better to sell him. You have a guy that has publically (more than that even) stated his wish to leave the team, essentially saying he's too big for the team, and in my opinion rightly so. But now that he has said this, he has become somewhat a divisive figure at Fulham, so it would be best for all involved to have him move on. This makes the most logical sense for all involved. The problem in business, is that logic doesn't always rule the roost, and sometimes bosses feel the need to exert their control and scuttle many deals that could get done to the detriment of everyone. I agree with the above poster who said it will likely get done a la Fabregas and Nasri, but I would bet it won't be until August. They'll put a big transfer demand out but then will face reality at some point late in the game and he'll move.

 

Have you seen reports of this, or are you just saying that it is natural that this would happen? Not trying to nitpick, but I haven't seen anything about his comments being divisive.

I agree that it makes sense for everyone that they not price him out of the market . . . but beyond the typical scenario of there needing to be a willing buyer that is a good fit for the player, I don't think they need to take a bargain basement price just to move him out of there.

Fabregas and/or Nasri may well have been equally important to Arsenal as Dempsey is to Fulham . . . (worth 3-4 places in the league) but those places are so much more important to Arsenal - the difference between legit contender and happy with CL place. I don't think fulham are a relegation candidate without dempsey. Plus, they probably knew that mancity and barca would overpay.

 

To even begin thinking about CL, Fulham would need a new stadium somewhere between 2 and 3 times the size of Craven Cottage and the ticket sales to go along with it. And they'd need to begin Some sort of Worldwide marketing campaign, complete with pre-season playing tours and IMO a concerted effort toward signing marquee players who'd sell merchandise as well as improve the play on the field.

Financial FairPlay wouldn't allow for just big spending any longer.

 

I'd be astounded if his transfer price was more than 1/3 to 2/3 that amount. It'll be significantly less than the transfermarkt valuation.

 

I have not seen reports of him being a divisive figure so i apologize if what I wrote seemed to suggest that, it was badly put. What I meant to say is that it would seem to me that a player in the dressing room who clearly thinks, and again in my opinion rightly so, is talented to a point where he is beyond his team, this does not make for very good team chemistry, and that player may become a source of division within the locker room.

I would think that without Clint and Dembele, they will struggle to find goals, and may end up in the 12-14 position range, which is only a few bad weeks of results from the relegation fight.

 

They joke back and forth on twitter sometimes too. I don't think there's any problem between the two of them. They speak highly of each other when asked. Off the field, they just don't have that much in common.

Edit: Sorry, I see this topic has been dealt with and moved on from. I was too late to the party.

 

Where, exactly, has Dempsey said he thinks he is talented beyond the team? Every player in that dressing room, if asked, would make the exact same statements about CL football Dempsey has made. Except for the ones who have already played CL football. And Dempsey has been saying he wanted CL football for several seasons. Why has it suddenly become a locker room issue now?

 

Let's look at the facts:

He is the last year of a contract (season 12-13).
Jol said they offered him an improved contract, somewhere near the end of last season.
He has said multiple times in the press that he wants the challenge of the Champions League.
He has not signed an extension at Fulham.

The difference with every one in that dressing room is that many of them see Fulham as their best career choice currently and would love to sign an extension with a pay raise. Clint has not taken that option (yet) while coming out publically essentially saying come and buy me. I find it hard to believe that some in his team would not see that as him thinking Fulham is too limiting for him at this point in his career. That has a tendency to make some think that Clint believes he is too good for them, which has the potential to irritate some. Again, I am not finding fault with Clint, because in my opinion he is too good for Fulham and should move.

I'm not saying that Clint is currently a cancer in the locker room, but if worse comes to worse and Fulham price all his suitors out of the market and play hard ball and force him to see out his contract, there might be some hard feelings all around.

 

The precedent with Man City suggests that al-Fayed could get Harrod's to sponsor the Stadium at several times the real value and get around FFP.

 

He'd have to convince the Qatari royal family to do that though, since he sold Harrod's to them. Think it was a year or so ago.

I understand where you're going with that though. Know there are loopholes. The new TV deal with BSkyB helps with that too.

 

One more thing to my knowledge the loophole only exists on new infrastructure or non-football related infrastructure. So you can't just sponsor a 100 year old stadium and expect it to pass the same market test as City. When they sponsored themselves essentially they sponsored the stadium and the new "sports campus", which is adjacent to the ground making it fair game.

 

I'm pretty sure he's scored against slovenia, honduras,italy, and guatemala in some of his last us games. He just likes to get goals. Maybe if he pretends he is 1/8 english he will become the automatic stater at manchester united overnight!

 

Maybe he should start hanging out with Brad Freidel...Farfle farfle pip pip and all that sort of rut.

 

To get this list back on track, may I say: place your bets:
(From SkyBet)
My conclusion: it's Arsenal or Liverpool according to the smart money. Every other team is a long shot. Personally, I am still (figuratively) betting on Arsenal. A team with Van Persie, Podolski, and Dempsey leading the attack? Nasty, with a shot at winning the EPL.
Clint Dempsey to sign for in Summer 2012 Transfer Window

Join By End Of Summer Transfer Window Loan deals do count, if player does not move clubs all bets are settled as losers

Arsenal 2/1 Liverpool 2/1
Chelsea 12/1 Manchester Utd 12/1
Tottenham 12/1 Everton 16/1
Malaga 16/1 Schalke 16/1
PSG 18/1 AC Milan 25/1
Inter Milan 25/1 Bayern Munich 33/1
LA Galaxy 33/1 NY Red Bulls 33/1

 

I think your odds are a bit short!

In England I would say at the mo' the clubs that might sign him (in order of likelihood) are:

<Stay at Fulham>*
Liverpool
Arsenal
Everton
Newcastle
Tottenham
<a club not on this list>
Malaga
Man Utd
AC Milan

*I think the chances of him staying at Fulham next year are greater than signing to any other single club.

 

I've always been skeptical of the Arsenal talk and if this signing goes through it seems even more likely that the Gunners are not in the market for Clint.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7824097/Arsenal-closing-in-on-Giroud

 

FIrst Podolski, than Giroud; and probably for significantly more money than Dempsey might get. Maybe IF RVP leaves, Arsenal might see Dempsey as a backup squad player; but probably not for the transfer fee Fulham is looking for.

 

I agree with you, largely.

Just note the odds I quoted aren't mine, but from the SkyBet site. And yeah if Arsenal is pursuing others then maybe the bookmakers need to recook their books.

 

I can't see him signing a new contract, so staying at Fulham seems like a long shot to me. They need to get something for him now if he's going to leave.

 

If he doesn't sign a new contract, I'm wondering if there's a chance of him moving in the winter transfer period. If a (potential/) champions league club have an injury crisis, or finds themselves with squad depth problems, with only 6 months to go on his contract, Clint would be available for a decent price then....

 

He's not going to sign a new contract, but I think if he's only to leave for a CL team (or even a team with a decent CL shot), he may not go this year as it's not given that a CL team is going to put in an offer. Also I don't think Fulham will sell him just for the sake of getting some money for him, they will want a decent price. It's not worth trying to quantify the exact monetary value of another season of Dempsey to Fulham, but any club would be reluctant to sell their best player, under value, even if it meant him eventually going for free.