The official line from the Seattle Sounders about Clint Dempsey’s status for 2017 has long been “cautious optimism.” Whether it’s on-the-record or off-the-record, virtually everyone says some version of “We hope he’s going to play but we can’t really know for sure until he actually does.”
In that sense, Sounders President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey’s comments to ESPN’s Jeffrey Carlisle are nothing new.
"We are going to do our best to try to get him ready to play in a safe manner, and if it happens, great, and if it doesn't, then we'll be patient and wait as long as it takes.