Clint Dempsey could learn a thing or two from Moussa Dembele

After Fulham were defeated at Old Trafford on Saturday, Moussa Dembele was quoted with the following:

“Personally, I would like to go to the top. I think every player wants that. But I have the confidence to say that I want to play at a top club one day. Fulham is a good team. We have had two good matches now so it also makes sense to play here.”

While that’s an ominous sign, Dembele has been nothing but a class act while rumors fly about his future at Craven Cottage.  Oh, and there was one more part to that quote, the most important part: “As long as there is no bid, nothing happens.”

Hey Clint, you hear that? There hasn’t been a bid for you, or for Moussa.  You both have a year left on your contracts.  You’ve both been linked with moves away from the club. But one of you is playing like a star on the pitch for the club you’re under contract with, and the other is stuck training at Motspur Park and refusing to speak with the manager like a 15 year old girl.

In fact, if anything, Dembele has benefited greatly from his play on the field, almost forcing top managers such as Alex Ferguson and Andre Villas-Boas into eventually making bids for the creative midfielder.  In addition, Dembele’s been linked with far more successful clubs than Dempsey has, only adding to the separation in attitudes between the two players.

Fulham fans understand that top players at the club in the primes of their career are going to want to play at a higher level.  That’s something we all accept without a problem.  In fact, the men in charge at Craven Cottage have built a successful reputation at finding these diamonds in the rough, putting them on the big stage, and then cashing in when larger clubs come knocking, turning that money around into youth development and scouting for others, starting the cycle over again. Fans appreciate seeing a former star who made his career at Craven Cottage have success elsewhere.  However, turning your back on the fans like Clint Dempsey has is only going to create unrest and confusion amongst the Fulham faithful.

Moussa Dembele’s handling of his transfer speculation has been nothing but spectacular, just like his play on the field throughout their first two matches of the season.  No question Fulham are a much better side with Dembele staying at Craven Cottage, and I just like any other fan hope he stays for at least this year to help Fulham achieve a top-10 side or maybe even a top-7 finish, which doesn’t seem out of the ordinary after these performances.  However, if he does go, fans will sing his praises for his time at the banks of the Thames, something that no longer seems a certainty for the American who refuses to speak with the manager.