On Wednesday morning the web site of Fenway Sports Group, owner of Liverpool, said that the club had "added Clint Dempsey to a team that came within a game of winning the FA Cup." Fulham responded that it had received no offer from Liverpool and the story was removed from the web site.

Fulham insists the American attacker, who scored 23 goals in all competitions last season, will not be allowed to complete a bargain move to Liverpool simply because Dempsey will be a free agent when his Fulham contract expires in 12 months.

David Hytner writes that Fulham's valuation of arguably their best player is reflected by the words of a club source, who said that a bid of around $8 million would be "laughed out of the boardroom."

Fulham and Liverpool did discuss Dempsey's possible transfer earlier in the summer but a Fulham spokesperson said, "We have received no offers from any club for Clint Dempsey. We would discourage any club from making a bid for him."