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Could Clint Dempsey be heading to Everton? That’s the blabber going down in today’s transfer speculation.

Now, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves – after all it was just 20 hours ago that Deuce was rumored to be heading to MLS side Seattle Sounders – but Dempsey at Goodison Park is simply too juicy not to at least contemplate.

The information fueling the rumors is minimal and it all comes from British tabloid Metro, which is reporting that the purpose of Dempsey’s trip to the United States was to meet with Everton in San Francisco.

From a connect-the-dots approach, the rumor is foreseeable as Dempsey was seen yesterday in San Francisco airport and Everton are currently in the Bay Area for the International Champions Cup. Of course, so too are Juventus and those rumors have yet to fly.

Dempsey’s presence in the U.S. means he will miss out on Tottenham’s friendly tomorrow in Monaco, which is significant as the 30 year old is not carrying an injury meaning he normally would be available for selection. So the fact that he is currently stateside is absolutely significant.

Also significant is Spurs’ transfer market activity, having recently signed 24 year old Belgian winger Nacer Chadli and 28 year old striker Roberto Soldado. Their addition will make competition for playing time extremely tight for Dempsey, who in 2012-2013 challenged Jermain Defoe, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Gareth Bale to make 29 league appearances.

Factor in Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenet that his players must be playing to be selected for the national team – and the writing for Deuce is on the White Hart Lane wall. There’s no doubt he’s good enough to not only play in the Premier League but to do so at a Top 10 team. It’s just looking like Spurs aren’t that club.

But what about Everton?

The club has a long history of being a favorable place for Americans, with Joe-Max Moore, Preki, Brian McBride, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard all featuring for the Toffees. Competition and finances, however, will be key issues.

Up front Everton have depth. Roberto Martinez has Victor Anichebe, Nikica Jelavic and Arouna Kone all available to lead the line while Marounae Fellaini, Kevin Mirallas, Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley can all play in the supporting roles.

Despite the numbers, the dominos could fall in Dempsey’s favor.

We can remove Fellaini from the mix because by the beginning of the season the Belgian will either be transferred or playing his favored role as a holding midfielder.

Mirallas, who was deployed in the supporting striker role by Martinez against Juventus on Wednesday night, is a versatile attacker who can also be used on the right or left wing.

Deulofeu and Barkley are both young projects, more suited to come off the bench.

Kone and Anichebe will likely vy for the starting spot leading the line.

Which leaves Jelavic.

Ultimately, Dempsey’s spot on the squad will come down to whether or not Martinez wants to keep the Croatian dynamo. His first season at Goodison was a bliss (9 goals in 13 Premier League matches) but his 2012-2013 campaign was a disaster (7 goals in 37). Hamburg have noted their interest in bringing Jelavic to the Bundesliga and if that move transpired, the door at Goodison Park would be wide open for Dempsey.

Which brings us to the other issue in this deal, finances.

Spurs paid $9.2 million (£6m) to bring Dempsey to White Hart Lane from Fulham last year and will likely seek to recover the majority of that cost. Whether Dempsey, as a 30 year old striker, is worth that amount is questionable and an issue for the boards to resolve.

Moving Jelavic, however, would go a long way to Dempsey becoming the sixth American to play in the royal blue of Everton.

Follow @mprindi