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Adu, 14, Signs Deal to Play in M.L.S.
November 19, 2003
By JACK BELL
Freddy Adu, a 14-year-old soccer phenomenon, was signed to
a six-year contract yesterday by Major League Soccer and is
set to join the league next spring, when he will begin
competing against men who in some cases will be more than
twice his age.
Adu, who turns 15 in June, will be the youngest player in
the eight-year history of M.L.S., as well as its highest
paid. According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau, he
may indeed be the youngest athlete in any professional team
sport in the United States since 14-year-old Fred Chapman
played a form of professional baseball in 1887.
In modern baseball history, Joe Nuxhall was 15 when he
pitched one game for the Cincinnati Reds in 1944. The
youngest player in N.B.A. history is Jermaine O'Neal, who
was 18 when he made his debut for the Portland Trail
Blazers in 1996. And the youngest player in N.H.L. history
is Bep Guidolin, who played as a 16-year-old for the Boston
Bruins in 1942. Elias said the youngest player in N.F.L.
history is unknown because of the incompleteness of records
from the 1920's.
The signing of Adu was a coup for M.L.S., which was
competing for his rights against some of the top soccer
clubs in the world. Adu will play next season for D.C.
United while he lives at home with his family in Potomac,
Md.
The official announcement of the signing will come at a
news conference in Midtown Manhattan today at which Adu
will be present, but M.L.S. Commissioner Don Garber was
already celebrating yesterday, calling the Adu transaction
"the biggest signing in the history of the league."
"Freddy is one of the top young players in the world, and
his decision to play in his country and for his league will
motivate other youngsters to look to M.L.S.," Garber said
in a telephone interview.
There are concerns, however, about how Adu will fare in
such a challenging environment. He is 5 feet 8 inches and
weighs 140 pounds, and he will be playing a physical sport
against many players who will be far older. While young
American girls have excelled in gymnastics, figure skating
and tennis, and 13-year-old Michelle Wie has competed in
L.P.G.A. events, those are individual sports that do not
involve contact.
In Europe, young men have for years signed with
professional soccer clubs, with the players then assigned
to youth teams until they mature. Michael Owen stood out
for England in the World Cup at age 18 and Wayne Rooney
made his English Premier League debut for Everton at 17.
Until now, the youngest player in M.L.S. was Santino
Quaranta, who made his debut at the age of 16 in May 2001.
Bruce Arena, the coach of the United States national team,
who may very well be coaching Adu in the 2006 World Cup,
was asked yesterday in a telephone interview about such
situations in general. "I would have the same concerns as I
would with any young athlete in an adult environment," he
said. "Does the athlete have the right physical attributes
for a game that is more advanced than anything he's
experienced in speed, power and technique? How many people
would have thought that LeBron James would adjust to the
N.B.A. so quickly?"
MetroStars Coach Bob Bradley also cited James, who went
from high school to the N.B.A. at 18. He said that James
was a talented player who "believes that basketball is his
future and he wants to learn by being around the best
players," and that Adu had every right to take that
approach.
"There's no basis to argue otherwise," Bradley said. "It's
dumb."
Adu, who moved to the United States from Ghana with his
family in 1997 and is now an American citizen, had been
touted for years. He previously signed an endorsement
contract with Nike, precluding him from playing in college
in the United States. After his strong performance at last
summer's under-17 world championships in Finland, in which
he led the United States to the quarterfinals, Adu
attracted interest from some of the top clubs in Europe,
including Manchester United and Chelsea of the English
Premier League and PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. But
under the rules for non-European Union players, Adu would
not be able to play for the senior teams until he turned
18.
Adu's six-year contract includes a two-year option, which
belongs to the 10-team league. The league negotiates all
player contracts, with a minimum set at $24,000 and an
ostensible maximum set at $285,000. But some contracts
exceed that amount, and Adu's will be the highest, perhaps
$500,000 a year or so. Meanwhile, there is nothing to stop
M.L.S. from at some point selling Adu to a top European
club for a multimillion-dollar transfer fee before his
contract expires.
Adu had been offered more money by Chelsea and Manchester
United, M.L.S. officials said, but "the on-the-field
opportunities are what convinced Freddy to stay home," Dan
Segal, his agent, said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/sports/soccer/19SOCC.html?ex=1070233219&ei=1&en=b873cc2f4e4ed3e6
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