Fulham have withdrawn their official complaint against Liverpool for their ‘unprofessional’ pursuit of Clint Dempsey before the summer transfer window.
The West London club were offered an apology from Liverpool’s chairman Tom Werner. The club has apologized for poaching the American international, who has now joined Tottenham Hotspur.
Fulham had been Dempsey’s home ever since he arrived in England, and the player had risen in prominence at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool had been long linked with the player, and had reportedly approached him without the consent of Fulham. The London club had found out and were very upset with the Merseyside club’s unprofessional conduct. Since Dempsey was already under contract
with Fulham, Liverpool first had to approach the club and make an offer to them instead of contacting the player directly.
The Cottagers had filed a complaint to the English FA with regard to Liverpool’s unprofessional conduct and behaviour. However, the club has now withdrawn the complaint following an apology letter from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tom-c35214 Werner, the club’s chairman.
Sources in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 revealed that the Fulham have accepted the apology where Werner stated that his actions were ‘simply not acceptable’ and that he was very sorry about the whole incident, and I quote ‘emphasized his regret for the entire episode’.
Fulham announced on their official website:
“Liverpool’s Chairman Tom Werner apologized personally to Mohamed Al Fayed, stating that his club were wholly responsible for unprofessional behaviour toward Fulham and emphasized his regret for the entire episode.”
“The chairman decided that this sincere action was enough, and as a gesture of goodwill, instructed that all complaints against them be dropped.”
Liverpool had come under considerable criticism for their actions and the manner in which they tried to lure Dempsey away from Craven Cottage, which included a premature announcement of his transfer on Fenway Sports Group’s official website in July, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809’s
holding company.
Fulham felt that Liverpool’s actions were an attempt to unsettle the player at the club, and since they never made an official bid for his services, they lodged a complaint to the FA. The situation had let to a war of words between Dempsey and Fulham boss
Martin Jol, where the American suggested that he never felt loved at the club.
Dempsey later moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the dying minutes of the transfer window, and it seems like the situation has now cooled down, with all parties looking to move on.
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