Much Adu about nothing: How Freddy's American dream was beached in Blackpool

here is nothing happening with Freddy. He’s come in and worked hard with us. He is a great lad but I’m more than happy with what I’ve got. I have a strong squad.” 
Any move would likely have proved futile in any case. His failure to play in 75% of the USA’s competitive matches over the last two years – his last outing came in the 2011 Gold Cup final – mean the club would have needed to apply for an "exceptional talent" visa to play in England, with high-profile figures needed to provide endorsements of his talents.
All of which leaves the events of the last three weeks feeling a little pointless. But in an interview with the club’s website published last week, in which Adu admitted to dreaming of gatecrashing Jurgen Klinsmann’s USA squad and fulfilling his dream of playing at the World Cup, the picture becomes clearer.
Prior to his disastrous move to Bahia last year, the former DC United star turned down lucrative offers from clubs in Australia and South Korea to continue his career in Brazil, where he thought he had a better chance of catching the eye of Klinsmann rather than becoming a forgotten man.
A return to the MLS would be a simple route back into competitive football but his last stint in his homeland – an unsuccessful two-year spell with Philadelphia Union between 2011 and 2013 – left a bitter taste. And, perhaps more significantly, a move home would require Adu to accept a large pay cut from the salary he has become accustomed to earning – a reported $500,000 (€365,800) a year during his time in Pennsylvania.
The hope now is that the publicity sparked from his recent stint in Blackpool will alert clubs across Europe – which was quite possibly the purpose of the entire exercise in the eyes of the same advisors who packaged together the Adu brand 10 years ago.

All of which leaves him desperately looking for yet another opportunity to prove he can still be the star he was once tipped to become.