Freddy Adu is back – in Sweden...
After two years without a club, Sweden’s third tier beckoned
When Alphonso Davies made his MLS debut in 2016, he was second only to Freddy Adu as the league’s youngest ever player. But while Davies has motored on to Champions League success with Bayern Munich, Adu’s path has been a little more unexpected.
“Freddy is the first American player we’ve ever seen with potential as a pro in European soccer,” Inter’s Piero Ausilio marvelled when the Italians scouted Adu in 2002 – then aged 12, two years ahead of his DC United debut.
Nearly two decades later, Adu is back in Europe for another go, after his first attempt didn’t quite take off as everyone had hoped. Now 31, he’s headed for Sweden’s third tier to resurrect his career with Osterlen.
The coastal club are Adu’s ninth European outfit in seven different nations; after his US debut at the age of 16 – the first of 17 caps – he joined Benfica in 2007. The move produced only 14 first- team appearances, though, and Adu was loaned to Monaco, Belenenses, Aris in Greece and finally Turkey’s Caykur Rizespor, before returning to MLS. Then came a brief stint in Brazil, a move to Serbian side Jagodina and time with KUPS and Kufu- 98 in Finland. His most recent playing spell was in 2018 at Las Vegas Lights, after which he worked as a youth coach in Maryland.
So why Sweden? Do Osterlen still scout players from Championship Manager 2004?
“I never played it,” sporting director Malik Sesay tells FFT. “As it happens, though, my representative in England is Cherno Samba!”
Adu’s name cropped up when Sesay was discussing players with his American friends. After chatting to the forward on social media, Adu agreed to sign. Pre- season doesn’t start until January, so Osterlen’s flashy new recruit has until then to prove his fitness and desire.
“There are still a lot of talented players in the third division, so it’s going to be tough for Freddy,” says Sesay. “On the pitch, however, he has brilliant technique. I’ve no doubts that if he wants this, he’s going to show the world.”
Osterlen will be a different challenge to his younger days, when Adu wanted to progress even faster than he already was doing – as early as DC United, for example, he groaned about his lack of game time to the media. The former prodigy’s new club – who recently enjoyed promotion from the fourth tier – have sorted an apartment for Adu in Malmo. Now, all he has to focus on is helping the minnows climb Sweden’s football pyramid even further.
“I remember the hype,” Sesay says of his big signing. “As a 15- year- old, he was incredible. From the discussions I had with Freddy, it was obvious that he went to a superclub in Benfica, wasn’t too patient and couldn’t really get the career he was supposed to have. If he has the mentality to fight hard in training, I’m going to have a very good player for this division.”