Garth Lagaway, the general manager of Seattle Sounders has said that he is hopeful of Clint Dempsey’s appearance in the opening of the training camp later this month.

Although, he was thoughtful and cautious about the player’s availability due to the forward’s recovery from an irregular heartbeat.

Last August, Clint Dempsey was put aside due to his ailing health. He later came back to the training ground for a short time in September, but when the symptoms came up again, he went off completely for the rest of the season. Dempsey missed the sounders run to the 2016 MLS cup.

Lagerway assured that Dempsey is having good progress to his health condition, and is showing a great attitude to work so far. Ever since, efforts have been made to get Dempsey ready for the training camp. The Sounders forward was seen training on the side in the days following to the club’s win over Toronto FC in the MLS Cup finals.

In an interview with ESPN FC, Lagerway emphasized that Dempsey has being in training, and he’s been running. He also said Dempsey will not play a full time 90-min match at the start of the training camp, because he is not completely fit.

He added: “we are going to take it easy at the beginning, but we’ll ramp him back up slowly. You’ve got to be safe with him.”

The general manager also said that he is not certain if Dempsey will be have any physical setbacks when training commences, but reiterated that the club will take his matter of recovery carefully. He also said better plans are in way to ensure that the player is fit to play for the team when the training session begins. And when asked if the player would be ready to start when the season opens up in March, he said: “we don’t know. Sure, we’re hopeful, but honestly, I don’t know if we even control that.”