US national team head coach Bruce Arena is hopeful that he’ll be able to call up Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey for the USMNT’s January camp next month.
Dempsey, 33, has been out since late August due to an irregular heartbeat. After undergoing evaluations immediately following his diagnosis, Dempsey returned to Sounders training in mid-September, but was ruled out for the season at the end of the month.
The US national team veteran was able to train with Seattle earlier this week.
Arena told FOX Sports’ Julie Stewart-Binks in an interview ahead of MLS Cup between the Sounders and Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday that he’d spoken to Dempsey in Toronto and that he’s hoping to bring him into the US’s camp in Southern California next month.
The new USMNT boss said that Dempsey might be limited if he’s able to attend the January camp, but that he’s aiming to be fully healthy in time for the start of the 2017 MLS season. Arena said that Dempsey will "hopefully be ready" for the US's World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama in March.
