Dempsey unhappy with portrayal

Clint Dempsey is disappointed how his exit from Fulham played out as he felt he had always been clear about his ambitions. The United States international made a transfer deadline-day move to Tottenham, bringing to an end a long-running saga regarding his future.

Liverpool had courted the player for much of the summer with Fulham making a formal complaint to the Premier League about what they claimed was an illegal approach for Dempsey from the Anfield club.

There were even reports that the 29-year-old had effectively gone on strike and the forward did not appear in either of the Cottagers' opening two fixtures of the season. Dempsey said: "I'm disappointed in the way I was portrayed, in the end, with Fulham. "I always wanted to play at the highest level possible. That was never a secret.

That's something I always said. "It would be a dream of mine to play Champions League and you want to play on the best team possible to try to get there. "That's definitely a team with a lot of quality in it, but now it's all about the team that I'm with." He added: "There were some things that were said that weren't true.

"That's in the past now. It's about looking toward the future and like I said, I'm looking forward to playing with Tottenham. It's a great team, a great club. "I want to thank the fans of Fulham. It's been five great years. "Some of my best memories in football have been there. I want to thank the chairman for talking a chance on me from MLS and I wish them well in the future."