Seattle Sounders general manager and president of soccer Garth Lagerway is still “cautiously optimistic” that forward Clint Dempsey will be able to participate in preseason training, according to ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle.
Dempsey missed the final 10 matches of the 2016 regular season while recovering from an irregular heartbeat. He returned to training briefly a few weeks after undergoing a procedure, but was ultimately shut down for the rest of the year in September and missed all of the team’s run to MLS Cup, despite practicing lightly leading into the final.
“Dempsey is participating now, he’s running,” Lagerwey told ESPN.