Poor Aston Villa. They're the only team to have stumped up the money for American midfielder Clint Dempsey, and they've been unceremoniously rejected by him:

Clint Dempsey has turned down the chance to join Aston Villa despite Fulham accepting an offer for the forward #bbcfootball

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 31, 2012

Dempsey is in the middle of throwing a major tantrum at Fulham, refusing to play until he gets a transfer to a bigger club. Apparently what he really meant was a transfer to Liverpool. The problem, of course, is that Liverpool don't necessarily have the money to persuade the Cottagers to sell. Villa do, but Dempsey doesn't want to go there. This is the worst love triangle ever.

Anyway, this is probably good news for Aston Villa's defenders. Sure, they wouldn't have to play against Dempsey in real matches, if they got him. But if 'Deuce' had joined up with Paul Lambert and company at Villa Park, they'd have had to train with him and his flying elbows. That's a recipe for mild concussion if I've ever seen one.