Clint Dempsey has been left out of Fulham's squad to face Norwich and appears destined to be on his way out of Craven Cottage.
Jol overlooks forward as he edges towards exit
Clint Dempsey has been left out of Fulham's squad to face Norwich and appears destined to be on his way out of Craven Cottage.
Cottagers boss Martin Jol believes a transfer saga which has dragged on all summer has got to the point of becoming 'embarrassing'.
Dempsey made it clear early on that he wanted to take on a new challenge, and Liverpool have admitted to holding an interest in the USA international.
No deal has been agreed for a man who still has 12 months left to run on his contract at Fulham, but Jol believes the highly-rated forward is not in the right frame of mind to start the new Premier League season.
He said: "Clint was not involved over the last four weeks so he is not going to be in the squad.
Impossible
"He is not committed to the club. He wants to leave.
"I would like to keep him, but I think it's impossible. It's a sad and an almost embarrassing situation."
Liverpool's decision to air their interest in public has frustrated Jol, with Brendan Rodgers' comments only serving to make a difficult situation harder for all concerned.
"That was very disappointing," said the Dutchman.
"There was never an offer. Clint himself told everyone he was going to Liverpool before he came back so we really thought there was quite a firm interest in him.
"Even (Rodgers) told everyone he was interested in Clint Dempsey, but our people never had an offer on the table, so it's almost embarrassing.
"If you have shown interest in a player, especially in England, you have to follow it up with an offer. They didn't."
Position
While accepting that Dempsey looks to be heading for pastures new, Jol insists Fulham will not allow the 29-year-old to leave for less than they feel he is worth - with the capital club still in a position to demand a fee.
"Maybe Liverpool will come back," Jol said.
"I can assure you that our chairman is strong enough. At first we didn't want to get rid of him, later on we had to change our position.
"But our view is that we won't let Clint Dempsey go on the cheap, that's for sure."
