Freddy Adu, the much-hyped American teenager, begins a two-week trial with Manchester United this morning, with Sir Alex Ferguson as eager as anyone to find out whether the precocious youngster can disprove the theory that his is a case of much Adu about nothing.
The trial has come as a surprise, not only because Adu has performed relatively poorly in Major League Soccer (MLS) this season for DC United, but also because
What is clear is that Chelsea's interest has cooled in view of the 17-year-old's struggle to live up to his promise and that Ferguson, the United manager, and his staff are regarding the prodigy's arrival at Old Trafford with greater caution than they might have done two years ago, when he was considered the next big thing in world football.
It remains to be seen whether Adu will be allowed to train with United's first-team squad, who travel to
Already a full international for the United States, Adu, who was born in Ghana, has long been regarded as the first American soccer superstar, but even his most ardent admirers are unsure whether he has what it takes to impress Ferguson, let alone to succeed in England in the longer term.
“I think if he'd like to go, (he should) go to some place where he's not only going to play but also develop in the right way, the right environment,” Peter Nowak, the DC United head coach, said last week. “I don't think the clubs with the highest budget in the world will wait for Freddy to develop because they can buy another player for $20 million or $30 million. They can do that.
“If you like it, you will play. If you don't like it, they're going to buy another. But my thing is, the guys who really develop young kids in the right way are the Dutch league and some of the Spanish league. Because it's more tech