Once touted as “the next Pele”, things haven’t worked out exactly to plan for Freddy Adu, who has now washed up on Finland’s shores with Kuopion Palloseura.
Pending a medical, Adu will join the team currently sitting in 11th place in the Finnish first division (Veikkausliiga) after agreeing personal terms.
The team, which is more commonly referred to as KuPS, finished in seventh position in the Veikkausliiga last season. They will become the one-time prodigy’s third club since quitting Major League Soccer in 2013, although he has played in just two matches since then – making one appearance apiece for Brazilian side Bahia and Jagodina of Serbia.
KuPS said in a club statement that Adu first shot to the public’s attention at the age of 14 when he signed his first professional contract. It noted that he played nearly 100 matches in Major League Soccer before transferring to Portuguese giants Benfica. It added that even to this day, the player has a massive fan base and almost half a million followers on social media.
After leaving Jagodina at the end of 2014, Adu had been linked with clubs back in MLS and a move to Sweden, but it is KuPS who will now be hoping to reignite the one-time wonder boy’s career.