Clint Dempsey to Fulham

Big news out of MLS today. Clint Dempsey is headed to Fulham FC in the English Premiership. The deal was announced a couple of weeks ago, but was pending a work permit as he is not a citizen of an EU country. A work permit is automatically granted if the player in question has played in 75 percent of his country's national team matches in the previous 2 years. Dempsey fell just 2 games short of the required total for an automatic permit. His case was referred to a tribunal for such matters and his permit was approved.

With the approval of Dempsey's permit, the deal worth a potential $4M, depending on incentives, potential went through. Dempsey joins fellow Americans Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra on the Fulham roster. It had been rumored that a transfer for a 4th American, Oguchi Onyewu from Standard Liege, was in the works but it has since fallen through.

I personally am pumped to see Dempsey on a larger stage. Clint has become probably my favorite person on the MNT. (It's close between him and Gooch) I really like the way Clint is so willing to take on defenders. He has an air about him that smacks of a disregard for authority. He doesn't care who you are, if you're in his way, he'll go around (or through) you. He plays with a style that says "bring it, bitch."

Clint didn't come up through the US Soccer system in the normal fashion, so along the way he picked up way of doing things that isn't like many other American players. Many of the more successful Americans either 1) Came up before the current system was put in place (Reyna, McBride), 2) Came up in a different system (John O'Brien in the Ajax system) or 3) have amazing speed (Beasley) which you can't teach. America really hasn't produced a player using the current youth system that can out-create his foreign counterparts, but Dempsey might be that player, and that excites me.

Also: I'd been rooting for Fulham for the past few years because of Brian McBride (plus I liked Luis Boa Morte, and he's off to West Ham), but I fear it'll become the bandwagon team for new US people looking for a team now that there are 3 Americans on the team. On the other hand, I'd like to root for Clint's team. So I might be in the market for a new team, so please post your suggestions for either staying with Fulham or a new team. But please no Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U., Newcastle, or Tottenham Hotspur suggestions.

Fulham close in on Dempsey swoop [BBC Sport]
Dempsey could set the tone for future MLS transfers [ESPN Soccernet]
Clint's MySpace