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| Nigel French/PA |
Dempsey moved to Tottenham Hotspur after the London-based club bought him for just over $9.5 million from cross-town rivals Fulham. Dempsey then reportedly signed a new three-year contract with the club for $22.2 million, making him the best-paid American soccer player in the world.
Dempsey’s new teammate at Tottenham, American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, was previously the highest-paid U.S. player. Fulham accepted an earlier offer for Dempsey, which was a reported $11 million bid from Aston Villa, but Dempsey refused to accept t transfer to the team. It was believed that Liverpool was also interested in acquiring the services of the 29-year-old Texan, but they couldn’t agree to a fee with Fulham.
Dempsey was Fulham’s leading scorer last season with 23 goals in 46 games. He became the first American-born player to score a hat trick in the Premier League and also added one in a domestic cup game. Dempsey joined Fulham back in 2007 and he leaves the team as the holder of several individual club scoring records. He’s also the highest scoring American to ever play in Europe.
However, Dempsey’s stint came to a controversial end after he told manager Martin Jol that he didn’t want to play for the team anymore. Dempsey had one year remaining on his contract and Fulham could have forced him to stay and play it out, but then they would have lost him for nothing as a free agent at the end of the season. Dempsey more or less refused to play in Fulham’s first two season games and many fans felt the club should have fined or suspended him.
Dempsey said he wanted to leave Fulham and join a bigger club as he wants to play Champions League soccer. He may have joined a bigger team in Tottenham, but he still won’t be playing Champions League soccer this season as they didn’t qualify for the tournament. Dempsey and Tottenham will have to make do playing in the second-tier Europa League instead.
Most fans thought Dempsey would end up in Liverpool as the team even posted on their website earlier in the summer that he had joined. However, they never put in an official bid for him. Fulham didn’t take too kindly to this and filed a complaint with the Premier League that accuses Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers of tampering.
Another American international player was also on the move just before the transfer deadline as Glasgow Rangers captain Carlos Bocanegra moved to the Spanish Second division when he signed Racing Santander.
Also, Oguchi Onyewu left Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon and joined Spanish team Malaga on a season-long loan deal. Malaga has the option of buying Onyewu at the end of the season. He’ll be playing in the Champions League though as the club has qualified for the event.
Another U.S.-born player, Maurice Edu, also fled from Rangers when he left the Scottish club to join Stoke City of the English Premier League. His international teammate Geoff Cameron also joined Stoke about a week earlier. Alejandro Bedoya, another American player, left Rangers earlier for a club in Sweden.
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