Pure speculation: Sifting through possible Clint Dempsey destinations

Apr 10, 2012, 12:15 PM EDT

Whenever Clint Dempsey scores in the Premier League (which has been happening a lot, lately), you’re likely to hear about his need to move to a bigger club. In more excitable circles, you might hear incredulity that one of Europe’s giants hasn’t already pounced. You’re also likely to hear about his midnight ride to Lexington and Concord.

Though it’s easy to see why Americans are proud of Dempsey’s accomplishments, it’s just as easy to see why he’s still at Fulham. It’s a good club in a big city where the Dempsey family has put down roots. Clint and his wife Bethany have two young children. Packing up and relocating his family (or being apart from them for much of the year) would have to come with significant professional rewards.

It’s no secret those rewards are Champions League soccer, which is problematic. Only 32 clubs qualify for the tournament, and until the playoff rounds run their course in late summer, only 21 teams will have nailed down spots in group stage.

We can use yesterday’s 2012-13 primer as a guide to which clubs might be on Dempsey’s radar (and vice versa). Although 12 leagues get teams straight into Champions League, Dempsey is unlikely to move to a place like Copenhagen just because the Danish club has qualified. And even though a league like Portugal’s has had recent success, it’s difficult to see Dempsey leaving London for a league outside the former Big Five – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

That leaves only 13 target, unless Dempsey’s willing to take the chance of moving to a club that has to play their way in. Given Spain and Italy’s play-in candidates didn’t make it to group phase this year, that might be too risky.

We can also cross-off clubs whose squads are so packed they either won’t have interest or, if Dempsey moves, he might not play. Although it’s difficult to see Dempsey shying away from a challenge, it’s also difficult to see him moving to a place like Bayern Munich, where he could spend the year stranded if Jupp Heynckes doesn’t take a shine to him.

So who does that leave? As it currently stands, there are seven clubs that could be a fit, listed here from “Wow, that would work” to “That might be wishful thinking”:

Club	Why
Juventus	Italy’s leaders have no consistent goalscoring threat. Dempsey possesses the guile to succeed in Italy and has the versatility to play a number of different roles for Antonio Conte. And although things like this shouldn’t matter, Michael Bradley’s success at Chievo helped crack a re-erected glass ceiling (and perhaps made people forget Oguchi Onyewu’s struggles at Milan).
Schalke	Though there isn’t a clear need for Dempsey in Gelsenkirchen, his acquisition would give the Royal Blues cover at all four of their attacking positions. You could also see Dempsey wrestle a spot away from Jefferson Farfán or José Manuel Jurado. With questions surrounding Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s future at the club and Raúl set to turn 35 in June, Dempsey makes a lot of sense for Huub Stevens’ attack.
Málaga	Sheikh Abdullah al Thani’s project is ahead of schedule. The club wanted to take a deliberate route to becoming a European power, but sitting third in Spain, there might be the urge to accelerate plans should Champions League soccer accompany the 2012-13 season. One of Málaga’s biggest needs: Goals. Though their attack is fourth most-prolific in Spain, the Andalusians lack a double-digit goalscorer.
Milan	The Rossoneri aren’t lacking for goals, having scored 61 times in league, but 23 of those tallies have come through Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with an opportunistic Antonio Nocerino snatching an uncharacteristic (and probably, unrepeatable) nine goals. The non-Ibra attackers in Max Allegri’s rotation (Robinho, Kevin Prince-Boateng, Stephan El Shaarawy, Alexadre Pato and Antonio Cassano) have combined for only 14 league goals in 78 appearances.
Manchester City	City’s roster is stacked, but as we were reminded by their January acquisition of David Pizarro, the Citizens aren’t shy about adding new blood at already deep positions. But as we approach the end of the season, it’s unclear City are that deep in attack. With the problems surrounding Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tévez coupling the ineffectiveness of David Silva and Samir Nasri, City find themselves in desperate need of a player like Clint Dempsey.
Paris Saint-Germain	As is the case with Milan and City, there’s a crowd at PSG. This weekend they started Jeremy Menez, Nene, and Javier Pastore in their attacking positions, and while that doesn’t exactly scream need, you can’t help but wonder how Dempsey would bolster a side that chose to start Menez as their central forward. Carlo Ancelotti also has Kevin Gameiro and Guillaume Hoarau in attack, but about to embark on a four-competition season, PSG could use the depth and versatility Dempsey provides.
Arsenal	While Arsenal may be the fans’ choice (and probably Dempsey’s, as it would allow him to stay in London), there are a number of reasons to think this won’t happen. The biggest: Arsenal could have bought Dempsey at any point. Perhaps Dempsey’s huge goal haul has changed Arsene Wenger’s mind, and as we saw with the Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker buys, the Arsenal boss isn’t above taking up options previously passed over. But even if there’s been a change of heart, Arsenal’s stocked with other options at Dempsey’s positions: Gervinho, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Yossi Benayoun (if Arsenal keep him), Tomas Rosicky and (when Jack Wilshere returns) perhaps Mikel Arteta.

Skip to Comments (12)

« Newer The Money Shot: Sporting Kansas City still on top in ProSoccerTalk’s Weekly MLS rankings

Older » ProSoccerTalk’s weekly MLS rankings – Part II of III

More ProSoccerTalk

Back to Homepage

12 Comments (Feed for Comments)

mkbryant3 - Apr 10, 2012 at 12:46 PM

Ineffective Silva? I think the guy has had a great season.

Log in to Reply
Richard Farley - Apr 10, 2012 at 12:48 PM

he was the player of the first half of the season but has been a non-factor for a couple of months now (give or take a few weeks).

Log in to Reply
mkbryant3 - Apr 10, 2012 at 12:51 PM

Thanks Richard. I guess I haven’t watched too much City in the past couple of months. Keep up the good work at the site.

Log in to Reply
- Richard Farley - Apr 10, 2012 at 12:52 PM
  
  Thanks! I appreciate the kind words.
  
  Log in to Reply
arjanroghanchi - Apr 10, 2012 at 1:38 PM

I don’t think Dempsey has a good chance in another league.

With respect to Messrs. Farley and Dempsey, the chances of him being signed at City and getting any kind of meaningful playing time outside of domestic cups is nil. I think it would be a huge mistake for him to sign with a club like that. Even if Balotelli and Tevez are both gone next season, the Mansours will certainly be reloading with the Eden Hazards and Gonzalo Higuains of the world. I’m not sure how an in-form Clint Dempsey is a solution to an out of form David Silva (who will certainly be in better shape in the fall, don’t forget this was his first season in England).

The most logical place is Newcastle, Tottenham, or Arsenal depending on how the table looks at the end of the campaign.

If the Toon can qualify for the CL, that is the best spot for him for the next 3 years.

Log in to Reply
- Richard Farley - Apr 10, 2012 at 1:44 PM
  
  Good stuff. Just a couple of points:
  
  - this is Silva’s second year in England
  - Adam Johnson’s made 23 appearances (10 starts) for City. They’re obviously very different players, but I think it’s difficult to argue Dempsey wouldn’t play when Adam Johnson does.
  
  I completely agree, though, that City’s more likely to look elsewhere, but as we saw with the Nasri buy, they’re not afraid to keep adding.
  
  City’s also a very U.S.-conscious club.
  
  Log in to Reply
  - arjanroghanchi - Apr 10, 2012 at 2:31 PM
    
    Dude, good call on Silva. I messed that up.
    
    Johnson is a strange case. He has done well at times on the wing but often seems to disappear in matches for long stretches. You could be right to say that if Johnson gets time, Dempsey would as well.
    
    Part of the question for me is who replaces Mancini.
    
    Would you say that Pardew is likely to give more of a feature role to Dempsey than almost any other manager out there?
  - Richard Farley - Apr 10, 2012 at 2:51 PM
    
    Me first reaction was to say Yes, but I feel a bit uneasy about that. I certainly think Pardew would allow Clint to play his way into whatever role his skills justify, but I also think Conte would, too.
    
    A Newcastle team with him supported by Cabaye and Tiote, teaming with Ben Arfa to support Cisse and Ba, would be so much fun.
tylerbetts - Apr 10, 2012 at 1:46 PM

As a fan, I think I’d like the move to City (even with Arsenal remaining my personal choice). Not only are the probably sales of a few players going to create opportunity, but I would hope someone would market the hell out of City having Dempsey and Man U having The Little Pea.

Log in to Reply
baseballbarrister - Apr 11, 2012 at 12:41 AM

Why does the author’s ‘Big 5′ include France and not the Netherlands? I thought the Dutch league had a higher coefficient than the French league. Couldn’t he make sense at a team like Ajax?

Log in to Reply
- cktai - Apr 11, 2012 at 10:01 AM
  
  The Dutch league is ranked 8th behind Russia and Portugal. More importantly, the Dutch league isn’t that strong financially. See Stijn Schaars and Ricky van Wolfswinkel moving to Sporting last summer, and Zakaria Labyad considering a similar move this season.
  
  Log in to Reply
  - adzs93 - Apr 11, 2012 at 10:10 AM
    
    The Dutch league has become some what of a feeder to the German, Spanish and English leagues; You don’t really see top players move there any more only see them moving out…