Seattle Sounders: Clint Dempsey’s Future Still Unclear
By Paul Taylor
The official stance from the Seattle Sounders is one of cautious optimism, but a lot of uncertainty still surrounds Clint Dempsey’s playing career.
With the MLS regular season less than two months away, Seattle Sounders‘ fans have been waiting for any type of update about Clint Dempsey. When will he return? Will he return? How serious is his condition, after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat?
US Men’s team head coach Bruce Arena provided the first clue, during his recent live Q&A on Facebook: “We’ve been following Clint and communicating with the Seattle team.
“At this time, he’s not fully ready to come into our camp. We really believe by March he’ll be ready to play in Seattle and be a possibility for our (World Cup) qualifiers in March.”
This was followed a few days later by comments from Garth Lagerwey, during an interview with ESPN FC’s Jeff Carlisle. In essence, the Sounder’s general manager relayed a message of cautious optimism.
More from Seattle Sounders
- Sounders’ struggles continue in loss to Sacramento
- Sounders: Has Clint Dempsey Played his Final Game for USMNT?
- Sounders Fight to Draw Against Former Coach
- Gold Cup Final Pits USMNT Against Unlikely Foe
- How International Duty Sparked Sounders Midfielder Cristian Roldan
Lagerwey said: “Dempsey is participating now, he’s running. Will he be 90-minutes match fit at the start of training camp?
“No, but nor will many of our guys given how long they played (last season). We’re going to take it easy at the beginning, but we’ll ramp him back up slowly – you’ve got to be safe with him.”
Regardless of what the official position is from Arena and Lagerwey, the reality is there is no way of knowing what will happen, until Dempsey actually gets back onto the field. The first indicator will come when he reports to Sounders’ training camp, which begins around January 22nd.
One of the biggest knock-on effects from the health of the 33-year old, will be what the Sounders do in respect of their Designated Player situation. One thing we do know, is Lagerwey won’t make any decisions until Dempsey’s situation becomes clearer.
Speaking to Sam Stejskal of MLSsoccer.com, Lagerwey said: “We have to, I would say, be strategic with respect to Dempsey. We’re not going to know with certainty for a while yet.
“We’re going to be absolutely safe and cautious with Clint until we determine what his status is and what it’s going to be long term. It’s just difficult to try to make moves, because it’s hard to anticipate.”
As things stand, the Sounders will enter the 2017 season with Nicolas Lodeiro and Osvaldo Alonso as their two healthy Designated Players. The next few weeks will be key to finding out how the situation regarding their third DP spot plays out.
Next: Sounders shouldn't sign Dario Benedetto
In light of the recent comments from the Sounders and the US Men’s team, what is your opinion regarding Dempsey? Are you optimistic he will return to action, or do you think his career might be over? Share your thoughts in the comments section.