Adu starts two-week Man Utd trial

American teenage prodigy Freddy Adu has started a two-week trial with Premiership leaders Manchester United.

Adu, 17, was allowed to attend by MLS club DC United, but will not be able to play in a competitive match as he does not have a work permit.

Chelsea are reported to have rejected the chance to sign Adu, who is the youngest-ever USA international.

Despite his reputation, Adu trained with United's academy players at their Carrington training ground.

Ghana-born Adu was 16 when he made his international debut for the USA in a friendly against Canada.

United are thought to be keen to arrange a match behind close doors at some point during Adu's stay.

Earlier this month, boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed United would be keen on signing Adu if he could prove himself.

Ferguson said: "I think we would be interested, he's only young but we have known of him for a long time.

"We tried to get him here some years ago but he signed for DC United and that stopped the progress of us keeping tabs on him."

Earlier this year Adu's agent Richard Motzkin claimed he had held talks with both United and Chelsea.

I thought we were supposed to be playing a friendly reserve match vs Celtic's reserve's.

Might aswell sign him, even if he is shit, think of the shirt sales !

La Saeta Rubia wrote:Might aswell sign him, even if he is shit, think of the shirt sales !

We are not real madrid, we dont buy players just to sell shirts

l r d wrote:

La Saeta Rubia wrote:Might aswell sign him, even if he is shit, think of the shirt sales !

We are not real madrid, we dont buy players just to sell shirts

cant think of any other reason you'd want to buy adu then

l r d wrote:

We are not real madrid, we dont buy players just to sell shirts

You couldn't even keep a straight face after saying that

Um hes supposed to be good thats why, we shall see, if he doesnt impress Fergie wont sign him. Not many people at 16 have done as much as he has

Isn't that N'gula walking with him?

Parks Lives wrote:Isn't that N'gula walking with him?

i dont know, but he has number 69 on his shorts so hes a fucking ledge

Parks Lives wrote:Isn't that N'gula walking with him?

never heard of him before, is he in your first team?

No, he's in the reserve's. He may not look it but he's 19!

Was out for 18 months recently with a knee injury and only had his first reserve game last week.

Parks Lives wrote:No, he's in the reserve's. He may not look it but he's 19!

Was out for 18 months recently with a knee injury and only had his first reserve game last week.

yep looks atleast 23 to me

It'll be interesting to see how this one works out. All the talk about Freddy Adu for years, let's see if he lives up to the hype.

If he really is 17, I wonder how he compares to a 17 year old Ronaldo, Rooney, C. Ronaldo for ex.

I'm curious about Adu's development. He was dubbed the future Pele by many sections of the media when he was 13 but the spotlight has faded on him in the last couple of years.

You probably cant develop much playing in a crap league.

This guy isn't that great...he was hyped a lot because the MLS was desperate to boost their profile, so when they saw a 13 year old way ahead of his peers they called him the next big thing. Nike also played a big part because they wanted to launch into the American "soccer" market in a big way, and hence offered him a huge sponsorship contract which also caused some hype.

But when he came on as a sub for his first MLS game (I think he was 16 at the time) he was well out of place. Nowhere even close to the physical level required. I haven't seen or heard much of him since, he's mostly been a sub for his team. If he's improved a lot, then he may be a sub for Man. Utd. (but even if they sign him, expect him to be in the reserves or on loan in Belgium, etc. for at least 1-2 seasons). Otherwise he probably has the potential to be a decent player for a mid-table side.

kasnani wrote:Otherwise he probably has the potential to be a decent player for a mid-table side.

He'll fit in well at United then, eh?

Ive watched/seen him a few times. Only highlights of DC United games though(they show them on the MLS website) He seemed to have a decent footballing brain for the bits ive seen of him...but he wasnt the special player he was made out to be...but he did at times tear the players to bits...buts it MLS and its hardly the place to judge a major talent.

He did play Celtic in pre-season though...he appeared to piss all over them(not literally)

Here's a a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6-XV3UVm60

according to repors he is an average MLS player. He didn't make the USA World Cup squad and with some justification. I'm not writing him off, but it's quite clear he's not the wonderkid he had been hyped up to be.

Eddie Johnson, Brian Ching, Josh Wolff, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Ben Olsen were all selected ahead of him and all play(ed) in the MLS so Championship Manager fans may be disappointed.

Having said all that, if he does have what it takes he could go to far worse clubs than United.

N'Gula is what? Belgian?

yes.

kasnani wrote:
But when he came on as a sub for his first MLS game (I think he was 16 at the time) he was well out of place. Nowhere even close to the physical level required. I haven't seen or heard much of him since, he's mostly been a sub for his team. If he's improved a lot, then he may be a sub for Man. Utd. (but even if they sign him, expect him to be in the reserves or on loan in Belgium, etc. for at least 1-2 seasons). Otherwise he probably has the potential to be a decent player for a mid-table side.

To be fair on him, his first game on the MLS was when he was 14. That's an impressive age to start playing in a professional football league, regardless of which country it is in.

But I agree that he was probably overhyped though he could still become a great player. He has his whole career ahead of him.

a small 17 year old kid playing against men is going to be hard for most players.

unless your very quick like Messi or built like Rooney.

Cesc played a full season in the Premiership at 17 and he is neither built or particulary very quick. Jeffers played as a 16 year old for Everton and he was very frail.

Fair enough it is a real help if you are quick or built well. But if you are good enough you are old enough.

Cesc-Fab wrote:Cesc played a full season in the Premiership at 17 and he is neither built or particulary very quick. Jeffers played as a 16 year old for Everton and he was very frail.

Fair enough it is a real help if you are quick or built well. But if you are good enough you are old enough.

Shit though.

Luso 'Sporting' wrote:Here's a a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6-XV3UVm60

defending was shocking in these clips, half the defenders fall over as he runs towards them, and the keepers are poor as well, his rocket (the 3rd goal) is neither fast nor powerful, and it bounces a couple of time on the way to the goal

l r d wrote:

La Saeta Rubia wrote:Might aswell sign him, even if he is shit, think of the shirt sales !

We are not real madrid, we dont buy players just to sell shirts

It seems to be you'll do... Why would you otherwise buy such a moderate player. He is half as good as Emille Heskey

Roger_Hunt wrote:

Cesc-Fab wrote:Cesc played a full season in the Premiership at 17 and he is neither built or particulary very quick. Jeffers played as a 16 year old for Everton and he was very frail.

Fair enough it is a real help if you are quick or built well. But if you are good enough you are old enough.

Shit though.

Since he signed for Arsenal he was shit. Shit at Charlton, Rangers and now Blackburn.

In his Everton days he was class, and scored a lot of goals for a struggling Everton. When he was 17/18 he was touted as being even as good as Michael Owen.