Seattle Sounders have announced Clint Dempsey will miss the remainder of the 2016 season due to an irregular heartbeat.
The problem was detected last month but the 33-year-old had returned to training with his Seattle teammates earlier this month.
However, Seattle have now confirmed that Dempsey stopped training last week and will no longer continue this season as they look to nurse him back to full health.
“We simply haven’t got to a point where we were comfortable that there was a realistic chance of Dempsey returning this year,” Sounders’ Garth Lagerway said, via ESPN. “As we said in the first round of comments, we are not comfortable putting any kind of pressure on this.
"His return to play is not important relative to his health, both short and long term. We feel by ruling him out today it puts us in the best position to get him back, hopefully by the start of the 2017 season.”
Since returning to MLS and joining Seattle in 2014 the Sounders have fared far better with him in the starting XI (54.5%) compared to a win ratio of just 34.2% without him in the last three seasons.
For more stats on Clint Dempsey, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
