Fulham lodge complaint over Dempsey pursuit

Fulham have made an official complaint to the Premier League about Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers’ pursuit of Clint Dempsey.

The London club have taken action against Rodgers for revealing in a press conference last month that Liverpool had enquired about buying the United States international.

Fulham believe that Rodgers has broken Premier League rules by his public courting of the 29-year-old.

The Premier League said in a statement on Thursday: “The Premier League has received a complaint from Fulham FC regarding certain comments made by Liverpool FC officials and is currently looking into the matter.”

The complaint was registered last month and was discussed at the July meeting of the Premier League board, which consists of Richard Scudamore, Sir Dave Richards, Nic Coward and Mike Foster.

Fulham’s action is believed to have been made specifically against Rodgers rather than Liverpool or the club’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group.

Dempsey has been heavily linked with Liverpool up to that point, culminating in a website belonging to the club’s owners publishing a story on July 18 claiming he was a Liverpool player.

The story was hastily removed but Rodgers addressed the subject at a press conference the same day.

“Clint is a player we’ve inquired about, it is as simple as that,” Rodgers said. “Ian Ayre, our managing director, has spoken with the club to see what the position is. That is where we’re at. He’s a very talented player but we don’t like to talk about other clubs’ players.”