Jurgen Klinsmann open to all Clint Dempsey possibilities

Clint Dempsey certainly isn’t the only one happy that his prolonged transfer drama reached a satisfactory conclusion.

U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann is ecstatic that Dempsey has landed at a bigger club – and just in time for the Texan to get into his national team’s camp ahead of two World Cup qualifiers.

Klinsmann would not rule out the possibility that Dempsey could start on Sept. 7 in Kingston against Jamaica, or on Sept. 11 (also against Jamaica) in Columbus, Ohio. That really would be something, considering the new Tottenham signing hasn’t stepped on the field in a competitive match since June.

(MORE: initial thoughts on the U.S. roster)

What seems more likely is that Dempsey would come off the bench in the first contest as Klinsmann sets up slightly more defensively, and then perhaps makes a First XI appearance four nights later. Still…

“When he arrives we will evaluate him, sit down with him and discuss his state of mind, and obviously we will evaluate his fitness level, too,” Klinsmann said Sunday on a national media teleconference. The U.S. coach made it clear that all options are open.

“It really depends on where he’s at,” Klinsmann said. “We will see right away in the first couple of training session where he is at. So, depending on the data and what we see in those first two or three sessions, we are open to throwing him in right away.”

Injuries to Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley have already take two of the team’s top three midfielders or forwards off the board; that makes any contributions from Dempsey that much more important.

It’s hardly a state secret that Klinsmann has a special relationship with Tottenham, where he played in two separate spells. “We are happy this whole thing is finalized, that he got the move to an international club that is always competing for top four or six in the Premier League.”