Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

From The Times of London February 07, 2006

Much Adu about ?5m as Chelsea close the net on teenage prodigy
By Oliver Kay and Matt Hughes

CHELSEA are about to send more shock waves through the football world by beating Manchester United to secure the services of Freddy Adu, the American teenager widely regarded as the most exciting young player on the planet.

United and several top clubs in Italy and Spain have been tracking Adu for four years, but Chelsea?s negotiations are at an advanced stage. Agreements are imminent with the player and Major League Soccer (MLS), which owns his registration. The 16-year-old forward is expected to move to London in the summer, by which time he hopes to have become the youngest player to feature in a World Cup tournament, a record set by Norman Whiteside when he played for Northern Ireland in 1982.

It is a deal that will underline Chelsea?s continuing bid for global domination by signing the stars of tomorrow as well as today. They are also hoping to beat United in a bitter wrangle over John Obi Mikel, the outstanding young Nigeria midfield player, and the news that they are close to securing the services of Adu, who made his debut for DC United aged 14 and won his first full cap for the US last month at 16 years 234 days, will cause consternation in Milan and Madrid but above all in Manchester, where Sir Alex Ferguson had dreams of adding the Ghanaian-born prodigy to his legacy.

Sources at Stamford Bridge say that the initial outlay will be about ?5 million for a player who, if successful, could bring Chelsea enormous commercial benefits in Africa as well as the US. It is possible that Jos? Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, would send him on loan to pick up first-team experience, but the club want him to move immediately after the World Cup and are hopeful that a work permit will be granted on appeal, even if the first application is likely to be rejected on grounds of inexperience.

Neither Chelsea nor MLS would comment last night, while one of Adu?s agents, Dan Segal, of SportsNet LLC, declined to confirm that the youngster was heading for England. ?All I would like to say at this stage is that Freddy has obviously attracted a lot of interest internationally,? Segal said. ?We are mindful of the fact that he will turn 17 in the summer. At this stage, nothing has truly been decided.?

Chelsea, though, believe that the deal is all but done, even if they are prepared to allow MLS to dictate the timing of any announcement. The new MLS campaign starts soon and the loss of Adu, the country?s most celebrated player, may come as an even bigger blow to the league than to DC United, although his departure to one of Europe?s biggest clubs should enhance the sport?s profile in America, particularly if he has an impact on this summer?s World Cup.

MLS has long been resigned to losing Adu. Chelsea?s management team met him for the first time during a pre-season tour of the US in July 2004 and invited him and his mother to their game against AC Milan in New York. Last summer he played against Chelsea for DC United in a friendly in Washington and said that ?hopefully one day I can end up playing with those guys rather than against them. They?re my favourite team in the world.?

Should Adu get his wish, it would be another remarkable development in the life of a boy who moved to the US from Ghana at the age of 8 after his mother won a Green Card lottery. His talents came to the attention of the US Olympic Development Programme and the MLS as well as to Nike, the sportswear company, which made him its youngest blue-chip client.

Manchester United hoped that their links with Nike might give them the upper hand in negotiations, but Chelsea, not for the first time, appear to have beaten them to the punch.

 

Let Chelsea have him. He won't amount to jack shit.

 

Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

Now tell us how you really feel! :wink:

 

Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

.. sorry, Tom. But he will. Assuming they dont stick him in above his head.

DCU were handling him right.. He needs to be playing Div1 or Div 2.

Hate to see him at Chelsea, though.

And BTW...5M is bulls!T! He's worth more than that, even on a flyer. There HAS to be more to the deal. which seems to figure into ..initial outlay will be about ?5 million..

 

RE: Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

I hope he does do well. I guess a part of me is just disgusted with the fact that Chelsea might get him. He could go anywhere else and I would be happy for him, but not there.

 

RE: Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

Two things:

He shows signs of the 'big head'.

Fair enough that he chafes at getting on only as the 3rd attacker with DC... but his season highlight play, 'analyzed', shows him chesting the ball down to his foot, back to goal and dribbling around 4 defenders, who looked like road cones, and acted like it, too.

Also the conjecture on his figuring in the US WC results is highly optimistic. He'll probably make the team, but only get on if US are down two, or maybe if they are up one... in the final minutes.

 

RE: Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

I do not think he will make the team for Germany. If he does, it is not fair as he is clearly not worthy of the call up. There are a number of others who are much more deserving than Freddy is.

 

Here's part of an article a 'Skum fan scraped somewhere.. has more to it than the "Fansfc" article does..
IE: Adu agent says all talk premature... but

here's the kicker:

 

Let alone if he does goes to Chelsea, would he even play for their reserves??? No way...the only reason why they might play him in the lower cup games would be to simply capitalize on his name and the revenue it would generate.

He's not going but if, for some bizarre reason, he does, he'll end up worse than Shawn Wright Phillips whom is a shadow of his former self since he hasn't been given much playing time at all.

 

Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

I imagine in this was a true story and this was happening that 5 million pounds would be the initial fee and the MLS would make more money as Adu progressed. It sounds like it would be something similar to Theo Walcott's deal with Arsenal and what Southampton will get when he makes X number of appearances, goals, etc for the first team.

 

RE: Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

From skysports.com--better news. My guess is that Chelsea is trying to get him but that there are conflicted viewpoints on the selling end (between MLS and DC United, and probably within MLS). Also, Adu was not happy the way DCU has used him and it would not surprise me if his agent is encouraging this speculation and these talks.

There was enough details in the Times article and enough substance that I believe that talks have been going on. Probably the Chelsea side, the one that really wants the deal, and maybe the Adu camp, is the source for the Times article, and the below article is DC United's response.

UNITED PLAY DOWN ADU RUMOURS
By Peter ORourke - Created on 7 Feb 2006

DC United have played down reports linking Freddy Adu with a move to Chelsea.

Reports emanating from England on Tuesday suggested Chelsea were lining up a move for the prodigious teenager.

The 16-year-old is regarded as one of the best young talents in world football and all of Europe's top clubs are thought to be keeping tabs on Adu.

Big things are expected of Adu and he has already played for the United States.

DC United technical director Dave Kasper has moved to play down the speculation linking Adu with Chelsea and insists he will stay in the American capital this season.

"I'm not privy to that (talks with Chelsea), but I don't believe there have been any ongoing discussions at this moment," Kasper told Sky Sports News.

"Freddy is going to have options. He's going to have options now and he's going to have options down the line, but Freddy will remain a DC United player for this season, in 2006.

Kapser admitted any future decision on Adu's future will be taken in the interest of MLS and DC United.

"The contracts are held by the league. When we reach that stage it will be a decision in the best interests of the league and all parties including Freddy and DC United," added Kasper.

Kasper believes Adu would prove to be a success in Europe if he did leave America feeling he could adapt to playing anywhere

"Freddy's a very confident young player. I believe he could adapt to any situation," said Kasper.

"It's important that Freddy develops on a day-to-day basis, which he is doing here at DC United, playing in Major League Soccer, but Freddy's family and Freddy's supporters have an eye on the long term as well."

United chief executive Kevin Payne echoed Kasper's comments that Adu would remain at DC United for the foreseeable future.

"Freddy Adu is a member of DC United and we expect him to remain so through the 2007 season," said Payne.

"Neither we nor the League has had any conversations with any club about a transfer of Freddy. Freddy knows the task before him this year is to continue to improve and become a game in, game out contributor to the success of DC United.

"We have great faith in his qualities, and we remain convinced that in time he will realise his potential and become a terrific player by any standard."

 

RE: Re: RE: Freddie to Chelsea? Hope not.

I was wondering.... WHO CARES.

Honestly, the only money in this for chelsea is african money... and last time I checked there isnt much of that.

He will amount to something, he's already in pro playing shape and he's not done growing let alone not done filling out.

Chelsea wont play him for 3 years, whats the big deal?