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One-time American soccer savior Freddy Adu, now 21, is on trial at Swiss club FC Sion, according to Major League Soccer's Web site.The player, who now can accurately be described as a journeyman, remains the property of Portuguese power Benfica, but he's failed to catch on during loan spells with Lisbon rival Belenenses, France's AS Monaco or Aris Thessaloniki of Greece. Since moving to Europe in the summer of 2007 for $2 million, Adu has scored four goals.
Adu began training with Sion on Tuesday. Aris holds a loan deal through next summer, meaning Adu basically would be subleased to Sion if the trial works out. MLS reported that Adu offered to take a pay cut to stay at Aris, but that the club has no interest in keeping him onboard.
He remains on the fringes of the U.S. national team program. Coach Bob Bradley called him up last summer when he fielded a 'B' team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and Adu scored in the first-round victory against Grenada. He certainly won't be a factor in the future unless he can secure regular playing time somewhere. The Swiss league isn't bad -- it's rated 16th in Europe by UEFA (Greece is 11th) -- and Sion is a competitive team that was national champion twice during the 1990s and which won the Swiss Cup in 2006 and 2009.
The try-out doesn't appear to be going well. On Wednesday afternoon, Adu tweeted: "Damn my big toe is jacked up. Swollen. Can't run and can't shoot wituout pain. Ahhh so annoying."
It's always something with Adu. His failure to make a mark at four previous European clubs raises questions about his ability to stick anywhere. His pro career, launched with such dizzying hype in 2004, has been a disaster. His biggest successes remain those he enjoyed with D.C. United as a teenager.
It seems the best thing for Adu might be a return to MLS. Benfica, which still holds his rights, surely would be happy to unload him at a loss, and at this point, Adu should be willing to play for free. He clearly has talent, but he'll never learn to use it at the highest level unless he gets games. MLS is the only league with an incentive to provide them.
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