14yr old kid to play PROFFESIONAL SOCCER

[sYric-STiPHuLLa]

MLS lands teen phenom

By Andy Gardiner, USA TODAY and Beau Dure, USATODAY.com

The NBA may have LeBron James, but Major League Soccer now has Freddy Adu. MLS one-upped the NBA's trend of drafting exceptionally talented players out of high school by signing Adu, 14, to a six-year deal Tuesday believed to be worth as much as $250,000 a year. The youngster will play for D.C. United.

 

Freddy Adu, center, notched a hat trick against South Korea in the World Under-17 Championships.

By Ville Myllynene, AP

 

Adu will appear Wednesday at a news conference in New York and then on the Late Show with David Letterman.

 

Adu, who will graduate from high school in May but already has a $1 million endorsement deal with Nike, will live with his family in Potomac, Md., while playing for D.C. The Dallas Burn traded the first pick in January's draft to United, a stipulation for Adu's signing.

 

It was a bold stroke by MLS, which outbid Manchester United and other top European clubs. "I hope I can leave my mark as soon as possible," said Adu, who is expected to play more in MLS, which owns all player contracts and later could benefit from a transfer fee.

 

Adu has been linked with several major clubs in Europe, dating to a report from his family that Inter Milan offered him a lucrative deal soon after an impressive showing in an Italian tournament at age 10. The talk heated up in the months after his performance in this summer's World Under-17 Championships, where he scored three goals in a win over South Korea.

 

Among the goals: A spectacular play in which Adu shed five South Korea defenders before scoring.

 

Recent reports have suggested that Adu's family preferred to keep him close to their home in the suburbs of Washington. Adu's agent, Richard Motzkin, told SI.com that another factor in his decision to sign with MLS was an age restriction on non-European players that would have hampered Adu's chances of playing first-team soccer for a European club.

 

Though Adu is on an accelerated school program while training in a U.S. residency camp in Bradenton, Fla., college soccer has never been an option because of he has signed with an agent and has a Nike endorsement deal worth a reported $1 million.

 

According to the Washington Post, Adu could be the youngest player in U.S. professional sports in more than 100 years. Adu turns 15 in June, two months after the MLS season begins. Pitcher Fred Chapman was 14 years and seven months old when he made his major league debut in 1887.

 

MLS commissioner Don Garber told SI.com that trading Adu to D.C. would benefit Dallas because the Burn would get a player who could immediately contribute.

 

The Burn struggled this year on the field and at the gate, hindered in part by a temporary home field at a suburban high school that lacked amenities and featured a much-criticized artificial-turf field. The team will return to the Cotton Bowl for one year while its new stadium is under construction.

[Bachelor]

I really hope Adu makes a difference in MLS, and becames a good footballer, but please don't compare him to Pele. He has not won anything and in Brazil, Fon instance, there are bunch of good 14 year olds, you just don't hear about, plus some of them when they turn pro don't make it. So please don't compare him to Pele or Mardona yet until he plays with grown men and leads a team to a championship. Too early to tell If he ever leads a team to a championship then praise him, but not now because he hasn't won anything yet!

 

It is very interesting year for MLS.