Transfer Window Awkwardness: Why Dempsey Did It

Daniel Levy will stop at nothing, even water boarding for signings, at the death of this Summer Transfer Window

TIME TO SPLASH SOME CASH

Clint Dempsey wanted to play Champions League football. 

So did Tottenham. 

They're in similar positions in that they're both just beneath the upper echelon in the Premiership. Ultimately, Lebron James & American owned-Fenway Sports Group's franchise Liverpool underbid the Under Armor-apparelled American audience-seeking Spurs. The rest is history... 

But why didn't he play the first two games for Fulham?

The Deuce is loose on the other side of London playing in Europe again and seeking a UCL berth next season

He didn't want to risk injury and had hoped his move would've transpired before the season began mid August hence the frustration. According to sources close to the club, at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Dempsey was promised he'd get to move if had a good season (which he did) and if there were legitimate offers. Brendan Rodgers clearly wanted to rid himself of Lolloping Andy Carroll and replace him with Deuce.

He's an emotional guy, and apparently, Jol and Dempsey had a bit of a communication breakdown. Jol asked Dempsey if he would train and exactly what he wanted, and Dempsey responded "you know what I want". Sounds awfully similar to warming-up-gate in which Mancini and Tevez butted heads in such a negative public display amply enhanced by the European night's setting. What the Nacogdoches-born trequartista really wants is the chance to showcase his skills on the biggest stage year round which is clearly Europe.

After 5 1/2 years at Fulham, The Texan traveled through crosstown traffic to arrive at White Hart Lane costing Spurs $9.5 million. The "future looks bright" says the US Men's National Team's solid #9. The Prem's fourth highest scorer last season sets the record straight on the KOP drama and not taking the pitch to start the season for Fulham in this video.

AROUND THE WORLD

The biggest signings have not been without their own distinct level of drama. Last minute shopping by Daniel Levy and Brian Marwood weren't the only source of frenzy and frustration during the window. Modric had personal training sessions with Andre Villas-Boas whose Jedi mind tricks weren't powerful enough to convince the #10 he wouldn't go to Real Madrid and win a trophy on the 1st day on the job.

Berbatov shunned Serie A's siren song ending up at Fulham. Robin van Persie's website announcement kept Arsene Wenger up at night fearing a mutiny from players like Theo Walcott who had to be guaranteed he be groomed to be a striker by Wenger who converted former winger Thierry Henry.

Javi Martinez from Spain to Bavarian Giants Bayern

Of course Athletic Bilbao lost the base of their spine and were not too happy about it. The outcry about not permitting their star defensive midfielder Javi Martinez to fly to Munich to take a medical was laughable when you consider the incentive to keep your accounts receivable department busy for a while. The Spaniard becomes the most expensive transfer to Germany on historical record costing Bayern 40 million euro which has convinced Bundesliga.com writer James Thorogood that FC Hollywood will wrestle away control of the league from rivals Borrussia Dortmund who've just won the title two straight seasons.

Perhaps more challenging than a beefed up rival in Bayern addressing its needs is the Group of Death, coincidentally named Group "D", that awaits Dortmund in the Champions League who will have to play out of their minds to contend with tournament favorite and La Liga camps Real Madrid and Premiership trophy-raising Manchester City, not to mention Eredivisie title-holders Ajax.

In Spain, Modric might end up having a Cesc Fabregas experience winning trophy after trophy this season in Spain. He can only hope. It's a blessing to win over a coach like Jose Mourinho on your talents and your ability to fit into one of his clubs.

The real question is, which transfer will end up being the most key? Is it so obvious the player will call Manchester home, either one of City's late shopping spree purchases or the Robin van Persie/Shinji Kagawa combo?  Or will there be a surprise signing like Michu at Swansea leading the league in goals thus far? The top signing at a mid-tier club may not be able to take down one of the top dogs, but in terms of winners and losers, Tottenham have made the most positive strides. Now that Dempsey's future is tied to White Hart Lane, it's Levy and AVB's best opportunity of winning together, taking Arsenal's spot securing a top four finish.

Here's how Miguel Delaney ranks each club's handling of the transfer window at closing time:

1) Chelsea Both a quantum leap made and a high quantity of gaps filled. Most importantly of all, after going six years without the creative players even Jose Mourinho's team seemed to lack, Chelsea made up for lost time by buying a load of them. In the league, we've already seen the lively effects of that. The only possible issues are in the centre and up front if Fernando Torres gets injured. Not perfect, then, but still the most productive window of all. 

2) Tottenham Hotspur A big success in that Andre Villas-Boas finally got to undertake the overhaul he was never allowed at Chelsea, with some significant coups along the way – most obviously, Clint Dempsey. So, with a general make-up that looks much closer to his Porto team, we'll now get to see whether Villas-Boas really is a failure in English football. At the least, he'll get to do it on his own terms. 

3) Everton A rare summer in which David Moyes made a series of signings, let alone just one. As such, despite balancing the books with the sale of Jack Rodwell, a period of progress. 

4) Manchester City A window of subtle enhancements rather than emphatic statements. No, Roberto Mancini didn't get his number-one target of Daniele De Rossi so the evolution of his system may not be as extensive as he envisaged. Javi Garcia's technique, though, is an upgrade on Nigel De Jong while the likes of Rodwell and Maicon represent general fortification and freshening-up of an already-strong squad. 

5) Newcastle United Not much movement but that itself is a major positive relative to teams of their status. Newcastle lost none of the players that lifted them to such levels last year. Furthermore, the overall depth has been improved with the likes of Vurnon Anita. 

6) Manchester United Two out of three is not bad at all but is it enough? Alex Ferguson solved two important issues by finally introducing creative spark in Shinji Kagawa (who may end up the signing of the season) and a hugely necessary statement in Robin van Persie... but he still didn't settle central midfield. Time will tell, but the last piece never came. 

7) Swansea Much has already been made of Michu, but Swansea generally maintained a good balance. Two significant sales were offset by shrewd purchases. 

8) West Brom Integral players were held, improvements were brought in. A good summer. 

9) Sunderland Holes were filled rather than high-profile signings made, with Danny Rose perfectly illustrating that at full-back. In all, a decent summer as Steven Fletcher will provide more goals and Adam Johnson a bit more dynamism. 

10) Reading Brian McDermott has enjoyed a number of astute signings, not least the livewire Garath McCleary, the canny Danny Guthrie and the abrasive Pavel Pogrebnyak. It's not far off the textbook template for those promoted teams without huge amounts of cash. 

11) QPR There can be no denying Mark Hughes has improved the overall quality, somewhat replicating his summer at Manchester City in 2009 if on a lower scale. The ultimate question, though, is whether he has also replicated QPR's problems from previous windows. Has he just signed de facto Premier League players on big wages, or is he building an actual team? 

12) West Ham Sam Allardyce did exactly as he would have wished by enhancing quality without compromising his system. The introduction of Andy Carroll's sheer force is the ultimate representation of that. 

13) Wigan Victor Moses aside, a rare summer for Wigan in that they didn't lose a glut of their core group. By contrast, Roberto Martinez made typically intriguing Wigan signings such as Arouna Kone 

14) Arsenal For so long, it seemed Arsenal had finally learned the lessons of previous summers. Yes, they may have again lost their captain and a world-class player in Van Persie, but Arsene Wenger seemed to pre-empt that by bringing in a trio of forwards and arguably enhancing Arsenal by giving them more angles of attack. Then, however, Alex Song scuppered the plans. As a result, Arsenal look light in the middle. Wenger was insistent he'd make one or two more signings. He never got them. 

15) Liverpool A lopsided window. Nuri Sahin is a superb signing and other good buys shouldn't be overlooked, but they are significantly offset by a lack of movement elsewhere – especially up front. The feeling remains that Brendan Rodgers hasn't quite brought in enough players suited to his system and goals may be a problem. Ultimately, Liverpool paid the real price for previous windows. 

16) Fulham Clint Dempsey's goals seem to have been replaced but has Moussa Dembele's force? Plenty of movement but is there enough balance? 

17) Stoke City A few years ago, Tony Pulis looked prepared to make Stoke evolve with signings like Tuncay Sanli. It didn't work out, though, and, since then, he seems to have regularly just reverted to type. This summer was no different with consolidation the general name of the game, right down to Charlie Adam likely being bought for his set-piece deliveries rather than his passing. 

18) Southampton Secured a coup in Gaston Ramirez but, Nathaniel Clyne aside, Southampton don't seem to have brought in enough quality. 

19) Aston Villa Despite some progressive purchases such as Karim El Ahmadi and Christian Benteke, Paul Lambert never got to make the genuine game-changing move he seemed to need, such as Dempsey. Much will depend on his ability to raise the level of lesser players, as he did at Norwich. 

20) Norwich City You can see exactly what Chris Hughton is trying to do given that all of his signings of top-division experience came in defence. That, however, is the point. The team still looks like it has too many 

"So that's what a trophy looks like. Cool." -Luka Modric