American sensation Freddy Adu was tipped to become the world’s greatest player, and Manchester United took a look.
Almost a full decade after the USA 1994 World Cup, America believed they had found their first true soccer superstar.
Freddy Adu became the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer when he signed a $500,000 per-year deal at just 14, with DC United.
Adu had a $1 million contract with Nike and another lucrative deal with Pepsi, by the time he signed his six-year deal with the MLS side.
Adu was billed as America’s answer to Pele, and became the youngest starter and goalscorer in MLS history when he made his debut at 14.
At the earliest possible opportunity, Manchester United were taking interest.
Manchester United’s Freddy Adu trial
Freddy Adu agreed to undertake a trial with Manchester United in late 2006, and the development was major news.
The Guardian reported in 2006: “When Freddy Adu turns up to train with Manchester United next week, will we see the new Wayne Rooney, or just another overhyped but promising young whelp?”
There was a dose of scepticism about Adu by this point, after he failed to make the USA’s World Cup 2006 squad, despite being given chances by the coaching staff.
BBC Sport reported: “Adu trained with United’s academy players at their Carrington training ground.”
Sir Alex Ferguson explained that a deal was not straightforward beyond the trial, commenting: “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.”
Freddy Adu did not automatically qualify for a work permit in the UK. After frustrations a decade earlier with Jovan Kirovski also getting caught up in red tape. United were in no hurry to strike a deal with DC United.
Speaking after Adu’s trial, Ferguson explained that United’s hands were tied, preventing the club from taking the deal further.
“Freddy has done all right. He is a talented boy.He’ll go back to the US and we’ll keep a check on him.
“When he is 18, we will have to assess what we can do next.
“What we did was to bring him here to give him an idea of what United was like so he could see the place and see how comfortable he was with it.”
“He is a very confident and good, young boy but there is nothing we can do about him.”
Freddy Adu talked about Man Utd trial
Freddy Adu has since spoken out about his experience at Carrington, admitting that he was blown away by the level of the Manchester United players.
Adu told The Express: “Going into a place like Manchester United and just being surrounded by legends and the world-class players that were there was so humbling for me. It’s like: ‘Man, I’ve got a long way to go!’
“I’ll tell you this, when I was there, Cristiano Ronaldo was the one guy who made an absolute point to come up to me, calm me down, say to me: ‘You know what, if you need anything, I’m here for you’.”
Adu claimed that Ronaldo even invited Adu out for dinner, but he felt he was not in a position to override other arrangements already laid on for him.
He told NJ Bet in 2023: “I actually didn’t get a chance to hang out with Cristiano after that, because I was the young kid that was being hosted so wanted to be respectful. I told him that if I’m ever back, that I would hold him to the promise of dinner!”
Adu also explained that he worked alongside current Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick, who was beginning his first season as a Red Devils player after signing in summer 2006.
“I played foot-golf with Kieran Richardson, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick, which was a great moment for me. I think Kieran Richardson won!”
The trialist said that Sir Alex Ferguson’s words were an inspiration, and he appreciated the public vote of confidence.
“It meant the world to me to hear that from Sir Alex Ferguson because, in my opinion, he was the best coach in the world.
“The guy is legendary and he knew talent, so when he sees you and he says that you are very talented, that just validated the amount of talent that I had and gave me a lot of confidence.
“When I went there I did well, so after being at Man U and being around all those players, I remember performing extremely well because my confidence was at an all-time high.
“At that time, just being around those players for a few weeks, took my game to another level.”
Freddy Adu’s unfulfilled potential
Freddy Adu did leave DC United in 2007, being traded away to Real Salt Lake. He was then sold to Benfica for just £1.5 million.
All of this in itself showed that Adu was struggling to match the hype, and was not at the Manchester United level.
During his time at Benfica, Adu was loaned out six times in four years, including spells in France, Greece, and Turkey.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2024, Thomas Rongen, the former US Under-20 coach explained: “He became this creation. The ‘next Pelé’. The ‘saviour of MLS’. It became a burden for him. All of a sudden, you see the downward spiral.”
Adu returned to MLS, before being involved in a swap deal with Brazilian club Bahia, which saw former Manchester United midfielder Kleberson go in the other direction. The World Cup winner had already been sold by United at the time of Adu’s 2006 trial.
The former wonderkid’s career trailed off, and after bouncing around from club to club, he has not played since a 2020 spell with Swedish side Osterlen.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
