Clint Dempsey leads U.S. scorers during the current World Cup qualifying. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Clint Dempsey has been named captain for the U.S. team’s World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico, according to coach Jurgen Klinsmann via the U.S. Soccer website.

“Clint is one of our most experienced players and ready to assume a more vocal leadership role,” head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “He has been huge for us in World Cup Qualifying so far and is already one of our key leaders. We know he will do a great job for these two important games.”

The U.S. team’s captaincy needed filling with Carlos Bocanegra off the roster, Tim Howard injured and Landon Donovan unavailable during his sabbatical.

Dempsey, who leads U.S. scorers with six goals in the current World Cup qualifying run, previously captained the U.S. team during the second half of a 0-0 draw against Colombia in 2010.

Forward Clint Dempsey started off the new year with one of his nicest goals of the season, helping Tottenham Hotspur to a win over Reading on Jan. 1.

The goal came on a deflection from 30 yards out on the 78th minute to seal the win for Tottenham with a score of 3-1. It was his 54th career goal in the Premier League, his fourth as a substitute.

Footage of the goal can be seen here.

U.S. soccer star is on his way to Tottenham after agreeing to a transfer from Fulham. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Clint Dempsey is getting out of Fulham and has agreed to a three-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur just hours before the transfer window closed, reports Yahoo! Sports.  Liverpool was though to be the frontrunner but were unable to come to an agreement with Fulham.

The transfer fee is reported to be $9.5 million.

Dempsey, who spent the last five years with Fulham following a stint in Major League Soccer, had been seeking a move to a Champions League-caliber club after scoring 23 goal in 46 games in all competitions for the Cottagers last season.

Aston Villa, Sunderland and Arsenal were all interested in Dempsey’s services in the past week.

The future of U.S. Mens National Team forward Clint Dempsey has been under speculation for most of the summer, with Liverpool F.C. the most rumored destination for the Fulham man.

Now, it appears there is a last-minute suitor, according to a tweet from FOX Soccer.

Sources have told our partners at Sky that TOTTENHAM have made a late bid for Clint Dempsey.—
FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 31, 2012

Tottenham have not expressed any interest in Dempsey up until now, but the club would be an ideal fit for Dempsey for numerous reasons. For one thing, Spurs recently sold playmaker Rafael Van Der Vaart to Hamburg in Germany, leaving a spot open in attacking midfield – Dempsey’s ideal position. Tottenham has a strong, attack-minded squad, and a new manager in Andre Villas-Boas that will be open to introducing new players into his system. Moreover, Tottenham is, like Dempsey’s current club Fulham, based in London, so the Texas native would not have to uproot his family with a change in club.

Since moving to Fulham from the New England Revolution in 2006, Dempsey has developed into one of the Premier League’s premier goal scorers. Dempsey scored 23 goals in all competitions for Fulham last year, and is entering the last year of his contract.