AMSTERDAM – With the transfer deadline fast approaching for most leagues in Europe, there are still three key US internationals with club situations running up against the clock in search of a resolution.
We're not going to pretend to know it all, but have enough confirmed tidbits to give you all an idea of what has already transpired around Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu and what could happen before the day ends.
Everyone tends to clam up tightly as the closing market bell draws near, so genuine transfer info can be hard to come by in a sea of Twitter "scoops" and tabloid reports. But just to be fair, we'll also recap those for the folks who don't typically peruse foreign newspapers.
5:22 pm ET
Tosaint Ricketts finally has a club. Ricketts announced on his twitter page that he is off to Oslo and will join fellow Canadian Lars Hirschfeld at Valerenga of the Norwegian Eliteserien.
Ricketts was most recently with Politehnica Timisoara in Romania and due to issues with the club not paying him looked elsewhere for employment. The Romanian FA blocked a proposed move to Dynamo Dresden in Germany but now it looks like everything has been resolved. (GD)
5:06 pm ET
Fox Soccer reporting the details of a done deal for Clint Dempsey to Tottenham.
4:34 pm ET
BBC and Sky now also have put Clint Dempsey at Spurs Lodge for a medical. It seems we now know for sure who that London club hanging around the bushes was. (GS)
4:31 pm ET
Times reporter Rory Smith says Clint Dempsey has shown up at Spurs Lodge. (GS)
4:08 pm ET
BBC is reporting that Liverpool have now walked away from Clint Dempsey talks with Fulham. (GS)
4:04 pm ET
OFFICIAL: Racing Santander have announced the acquisition of Carlos Bocanegraon a season loan. (GS)
3:53 pm ET
Just in case the Dempsey saga hadn't become Fellini-esque enough for you, CNN gabber and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has now taken lack of self-awareness to fantastical heights. (GS)
3:23 pm ET
Scott Burns of Scotland's Express says Racing Santander are closing on the capture of Carlos Bocanegra. (GS)
2:50 pm ET
Several outlets around the Iberian Peninsula are calling the Oguchi Onyewu-to-Málaga loan deal done. As of yet, neither club has confirmed the reports. (GS)
2:05 pm ET
Sky Sports says Fulham have rejected Liverpool's offer for Clint Dempsey. (GS)
2:00 pm ET
A local report says that the deal Oguchi Onyewu is trying to complete at Málaga is for a season loan. (GS)
1:20 pm ET
Champions League side Málaga have confirmed to MLSsoccer.com that Oguchi Onyewu has arrived for a medical exam. More details to follow. (GS)
1:19 pm ET
John Molinaro of Rogers Sportsnet is reporting that former Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes player Nana Attakora will sign with FC Haka of the Finnish Veikkausliiga, the top-league in Finland. Attakora will be the fourth Canadian playing in Finland’s top professional league.
Attakora has been out of action since his contract with the Earthquakes ended in 2011, but has had trials with Hibernian in Scotland, Reading in England and had a successful trial with 1. FC Union Berlin, but rejected a contract offer.
Earlier on Friday, Iain Hume sealed a loan switch from Preston North End to fellow English League One side Doncaster Rovers. Hume’s deal is until the end of December and he’ll be available to play for Doncaster when they take on Yeovil Town F.C. this weekend.
Hume had a falling out with new manager Graham Westley despite leading Preston in scoring with 10 goals. He joined the team first on loan in 2010 then made the move official in the January 2011 transfer window. Preston was relegated from the Championship to League One at the end of the 2010-11 season and Hume opted to remain with the club. (GD)
12:46 pm ET
Portuguese daily A Bola says Oguchi Onyewu is headed to Champions League entrants Málaga for a medical. (GS)
12:15 pm ET
ESPN Soccernet's Jon Carter has just posted this: "Liverpool have made a move to sign Clint Dempsey. Discussions are ongoing and it's the move the American wants."
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers told reporters of the Dempsey chase: "We have to wait and see. There are a number of players we are enquiring about." (GS)
11:37 am ET
Free agent netminder and Minnesota native Cody Cropper (last of Ipswich Town) has signed a two-year deal with Southampton, having already trained there for a month. (GS)
11:14 am ET
It seems Twitter has exploded with people spreading around a supposed Clint Dempsey BBC quote saying: "If I can't sign for Liverpool, I will retire."
Obviously, this was fabricated, seemingly starting from the account "TrueKopitesOFFICIAL" about three hours ago.
Despite the fact that MC Deuce never said this and the monster English outlet never reported it, we do now know that Twitter could probably be used to determine the precise time spanned between the birthdates of suckers. On transfer day, we surely dip well below one minute. (GS)
10:58 am ET
Clint Dempsey
It's probably needless to say at this point, but Liverpool have been hanging around playing chicken with Fulham for what seems like eons.
Multiple sources indicated that the Reds would need to shed a certain player before swooping for Dempsey, and Andy Carroll is now off on loan to West Ham United. Putting it all together, it's easy to imagine the US star finally moving to Anfield.
Based on what we know, there is also an EPL club from London that is playing in Europe still hanging on the edges to see what occurs. Meanwhile, it seems an interested Serie A side dropped out of frame a few weeks back. Teams with confirmed interest earlier in the summer include Málaga, Schalke and Sevilla.
This morning, Sky Sports reported that Aston Villa had agreed to a £7 million fee for Dempsey, then quickly turned around to inform that the player rejected the move. Everton, QPR and Sunderland have also been linked with the attacker in UK rags of late.
Carlos Bocanegra
There's continuing interest from England and France, but a source told MLSsoccer.com that the negotiating table was still waiting to see offers with nine hours left in the market.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, a Spanish report claimed that second flight Racing Santander was on the verge of bringing Bocanegra to Spain.
The US captain has already spurned Eintracht Frankfurt and Olympiakos this summer. Bocanegra also entertained interest from at least two MLS clubs.
Oguchi Onyewu
Transfer-listed recently by Sporting CP, the burly defender has seen widespread interest in Europe this week. Onyewu has already had two deals fall short: one when he turned down Levante over the weekend and a collapsed mystery loan move that followed.
The second case could well be Anderlecht, Bordeaux or Real Zaragoza, three clubs with interest confirmed by MLSsoccer.com. Various tabloids have also claimed that Cagliari, Galatasaray, Lille, Reading and West Ham have been in the Gooch race to some degree. (GS)
