Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterBig things were once expected for American playmaker Freddy Adu, who to this day remains perplexed as to why he never got what could have been a career-changing move to England.Aged just 17 and already a long-established regular in MLS with DC United, Adu was taken on trial at Manchester United in November 2006, and was persistently linked with a move to Old Trafford.But the move never came about, with Adu briefly moving to Real Salt Lake before heading to Benfica in a $2m.That turned out to be the start of year upon year of being a squad player at over a dozen clubs for Adu, who told FourFourTwo: "Honestly, I dont know why the [Manchester United] move didn't happen. I was young and I had my agent bringing me all these offers."Benfica just seemed like the best jump for me at the time, the place where Id have the best chance of playing and developing. You may like Freddy Adu on what it was like to be compared to Pele at 14 Exclusive: Diego Forlan discusses the role Sir Alex Ferguson's brother played in his Manchester United transfer John Obi Mikel opens up on his transfer tug of war with Chelsea and the Red Devils "It didnt turn out to be that way. My agent thought Benfica was a good idea, and the people around me, my advisors. Everybody did think that Benfica was best for me."For me, personally, Portugals a great league, but at that time in America, we didnt know much about the Portuguese league.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over."We knew more about the English league, the Spanish, the Italian, the German, so I wanted to go to one of those. That was always my dream."But with the options that were presented, my agent, the adults in the room, thought Benfica was a good jumping-off point."Everybody wants to end up playing for one of the bigger clubs in the world, so that was in the back of my mind, but once I got to Benfica, I realised how big Benfica were and how awesome the atmosphere was."The thing that soured me on Benfica was going through three different coaches in my first year there, and how it was just so up and down everything."A new coach comes in, they have their own ideas, they have their own guys that they want to play. Then another coach comes in, he has his own guy...it was just all over the place."It was my first season in Europe, and it was quite immediately unsettling. Everything started going sideways and downwards after that."TOPICSManchester UnitedBenficaUnited StatesSteven ChickenSocial Links NavigationSteven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.With contributions fromChris FlanaganSenior Staff Writer
