Tottenham's Dempsey: I wanted to break down in tears

Clint Dempsey has finally spoken out about his controversial move from Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur, claiming the transfer almost made him break down in tears.

It was a dramatic saga that lasted the whole summer, twisting from the absurd to the ridiculous. It culminated, though, in a deadline day switch to North London and the American seems happy enough with the move.

That's in spite of the fact his heart was set predominantly on Brendan Rodger's Liverpool, who had themselves waited until the very last hours of the transfer window to put in a bid that was deemed well below Fulham's valuation of the player.

The whole affair has clearly got to Dempsey, though, who was keen to stress that things weren't always quite as they were portrayed.

"I just remember calling my wife and my mom and almost wanting to break down in tears because it was a tough time," the forward told Sports Illustrated.

"Going into that last day and night there were still a lot of question marks. It wasn't clear-cut this was going to happen.

"Some other things came up and you are going through that struggle, which was not fun for anybody."

It certainly wasn't fun for Fulham, who were insulted both by Dempsey's behaviour and Liverpool's devious pursuit of the player.

"It was difficult for Fulham and for me, not knowing how it's going to end," said Dempsey.

"It's just about having that faith, holding onto hope that something was going to happen that both parties were going to be happy with.

"In the end that was accomplished, but the deal didn't get done until right about 9pm, and that was when a fee was agreed.

"But then you had to look at all the logistics, trying to get to Tottenham's training ground, trying to make sure all the paperwork was through, doing the medical, signing the contract and having everything sent back before the deadline at 11."

And did he really strike, as was so widely reported?

"I did not refuse to play. There were some things that were said that were not true."