Remember him? The young American prodigy who was going to take the world by storm and put the United States on the footballing map.A striker who broke an unbelievable amount of records and had the words top clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea and the like, clammering for his signature.
Promising huge sums of money in the process.
Well his lastest loan move to Rizespor in the Turkish Bank Asya 1 League highlights a dramatic fall from grace.
At the age of 14 he signed with DC United, and became the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer game.
Two weeks later Adu became the youngsest scorer in MLS history, and began to put his name on the world map.
2002 saw his United States under-17s debut, followed a year later by his first appearance for the under-20s.
This fast tracking added to the pressure on such young shoulders.
After four year at DC United, Adu shunned Europe for a move to Real Salt Lake.
However after less than a year, and two goals in 11 games, the big move finally came about.
But instead of joining one of Europe's elite, he rocked up in Portugal at Benfica.
In his first season he failed to set the side alite, matching his record for Real Salt Lake.
Following this came about a number of unsuccessful loans.
Firstly Monaco, who declined the offer of purchasing the forward at the end of the deal, Belenenses followed although he was released after a change of manager.
Greek side Aris Thessaloniki were next, were an 18 month deal ended early as Adu was phased out of the side.
Trails with several clubs followed, before his latest move to Rizespor.
This history does bring with it one question, how does such a young talent fade away so quickly?
My best guess would be all the pressure heaped on such a young boy, plus the celebrity status, became too much or he became too relaxed with it.
A youngster who was supposed to finally bring football, or soccer if you will, into the public domain amongst the other top sports in the USA.
But alas it was just not meant to be!
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