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Aimar to Benfica: What does this mean for Adu?

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With rumors already swirling about Freddy Adu’s potential departure from Benfica, the Portuguese club added even more fuel to that fire with its imminent signing of Argentine playmaker Juan Pablo Aimar.

Aimar should slide right in as the natural replacement for retired Portuguese star Rui Costa. While it doesn’t necessarily mean Adu is done at Benfica, the fact that the club tried (and failed) to sign Diego Buonanotte from River Plate leaves you wondering just where Adu stands with Benfica.

There have been various rumors linking Adu to loan moves everywhere from Italy to France, and Aimar’s arrival suggests that if Adu wants to see more than mop-up duty he will need to move elsewhere.

What do you think Adu will do? Will he continue an apprenticeship at Benfica, learning from a great player in Aimar, or will he go to someplace like Genoa or Monaco?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Freddy Adu is playing in one of the world biggest clubs. He´s a young boy, and he´sstill learning to adapt is style to the difficult of the european football.

    He didn´t play very much games in the last season, but he scored 5 goals, that means he was te 4th top scorer of the team in all season.

    He was on the bench with Rui Costa, and now he´ll stay in bench with Pablo Aimar, but he´s going to play more and more than the last season, and i think in this season he can score 10 goals, if he plays a bit more.

    I think Freddy Adu is in the perfect club to develop his football, and in two years he could be one of the top players in the world in this magnificent club.

    All the teams in the world wants Freddy Adu, but he loves Benfica and Benfica supporters love him too, so that is the “perfect marriage”. Let´s go Freddy, let´s go Benfica!!!

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  2. Ives…. soccernet has reportes that Aimar is in negotiations with Newcastle…. thought you would like to know… cheers

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  3. Come back to MLS and develop his talents like Landon Donovan. If he really is a talented player there will always be opportunities from Europe. Riding the bench at Benfica is not going to allow Adu the opportunity to develop his skills. Playing in MLS will since he will get to play every game and also play a key role with the national team.

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  4. Raghu hits it pretty much on the head. There really isn’t any reason for him to leave because of the vast improvements we have seen him gain just training with the team. He will be out of the squad for the Olympics which could be a reason why they did not want to leave that gap open until he returned. Plus playing behind a player like Aimar can only be beneficial to his playing career, as Rui Costa was before him.

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  5. Great discussion, I don’t think it’s the end of the world if Adu stays another year at Benfica (clearly he’s become a better player there). I think the key though – is that he IS getting significant playing time heading into the next WC. So next year – if he’s not going to see real time – going to a mid table team in France etc. where he’ll play would make some sense.

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  6. To the best of my knowledge, Aimar’s name is Pablo Cesar Aimar. I don’t think there is a Juan anywhere in his name.

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  7. I can see a nice training stint for the 1st half of the season still at Benfica, get a few sub appearances, and then a loan move somewhere once the injuries and lack of form set in during the European season.

    A strong performance in the Olympics won’t hurt either.

    Cheers,

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  8. I agree that Monaco would be a nice fit for him. All of a sudden, I’m starting to get interested in Ligue “Uuuhhhn.” With Bocanegra there now, and potenially Adu and Bradley, I’ll be very interested to see which team finishes behind Leon this year!

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  9. he needs to move on ASAP.

    I’m sorry but 19 isn’t a youngster in Europe. I know through American eyes that’s a baby, but in Europe that is a kid who should be in the first team and making a contribution. The list of players who many consider great now and consistently great at that, are all mostly 22-23 years old and have been on the big stage for 5+ years.

    He should move to Monaco is they could take him. Bundesliga would be a good move as it is a much more technical league than most give it credit for and would be a good place to hone his skills.

    Sitting around to apprentice under Aimar is a waste. He already spent a year under Costa, no need to have apprenticeships for the next 10 years. Time to sink or swim for Freddy.

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  10. Adu = Walcott

    Interestingly, the Adu situation reminds me of the Walcott situation. A young talented palyer that everyone, except for their respective managers thinks should start.

    I believe Walcott will get a better chance at starting next season for Arsenal as Wenger has stated that Walcott has matured as a player significantly.

    Adu needs a manager like Wenger who can actually see their young talented player in the starting eleven in the near future.

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  11. I would love to see Freddy move to a team in Ligue 1. I don’t think in reality he’ll end up at OM or Lyon but maybe AS Monaco as everyone has been saying or maybe even a St. Etienne type team. I think the more playing time the better and his creative style would fit in well in France. I wish more Americans would end up in Ligue 1, perhaps Carlos Bocanegra will lead the way.

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  12. Look, Freddy should sit tight. He’s only been at the club 1 season. Bouncing around that often only makes a player a journeyman, and doesn’t develop him to a higher level. Looking back a year to Benny Feilhaber’s situation, I thought it was legitamite for Feilhaber to move then, but in hindsight he would have been much better served by just sitting tight and fighting for playing time.

    I don’t think it would be good for him to have a journeyman reputation so early in his career.

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  13. I think freddy should go. I would love to see him in France or Italy or even Spain, any of those leagues would soot his style. Personally I think Freddy has the ability and he has already showed that he can be a top 5 footballer in the world some day, his technical and vision for the game is limitless, I just hope he keeps it up and works hard, because he could also make the usa national team really competive in the future.

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  14. @ Joe_in_Desolation, Would you agree that he has improved since being there? If so why wouldn’t you think his development could continue? i just don’t think it’s the end of the world if he stays rather than get sent to a mid pack team with crap coaches to get schooled by better players thereby hurting his confidence (ala pick a USMNT player w/ Fulham other not named McBride). Instead stay with better coaching and develop into something greater.

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  15. I thought I heard at some point in the past a team official of Benfica saying Adu was the future of Benfica. If that is true I would think they are looking to loan him out. No problems there.

    I also have see quite an improvement in Freddy’s game since becoming becoming a member of Benfica. I’m staisfied with his progress. He obviously hasn’t deserved more PT or else he would have received it. Benfica had a down year. The opportunity had to have been there. that is why they are hitting the tranfer market the way they are. Does this signify they have lost their confidence in Freddy. i don’t think so. The club is used to a certain level of success. They aren’t the kind of club to suffer through rebuilding in an effort to develop Freddy for us. Either they loan him out or it’s reserves for him until he proves his worth. I have faith in Freddy’s hunger that he will succeed in which ever role he finds himself in and it will bear positive results for the USMNT as well.

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  16. AS Monaco or bust! I’m not so sure how I feel about Bradley going there (also rumored to be interested), but I think Adu would be great for them.

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  17. All in due time for Freddy. He just needs to sit tight and keep working and let the club regain its stability. Benfica is a great place to learn and he’s surrounded by great players.

    I don’t think he lost his coach’s faith last season, I just think he’s competing for playing time against lot of top players and he’s only been with the club one season. It would be more evident that he lost the coach’s faith if he had been receiving a lot of minutes and then had seen those minutes dry up.

    Thats not the case.

    If anyone lost faith at Benfica, it was club management losing faith in the coaching staff.

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  18. I think much of the Adu commentary is because his minutes stopped right at 19 games. If you look at his prodcutivity he was MUCH more productive than Di Maria.

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  19. Aimar > Adu

    Let’s all be realistic. It was only a few years ago when Aimar looked like the real deal. With the whole manager debacle at Benfica, Adu has his work cut out for him.

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  20. I don’t see the conflict here. Pablo Aimar is a veteran, established playmaker and Benfica struggled last season. Freddy Adu is an 18yr old learning his trade at Benfica. If anything, this should be a positive for him to experience learning from a master. A loan deal would also be positive for Freddy.

    I don’t understand the expectation people have for Freddy to get major 1st time minutes after only 1 season with the club and a season in which they changed managers 3 times. Just give the kid time to develop at this level. He’s getting better but its not going to happen overnight.

    Furthermore, Freddy should just stay put at Benfica and keep working hard there. Jumping around from club to club isn’t going to help him.

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  21. Not being arrogant here but Adu has already learned and needs nothing from Aimar . he’s proven himself over and over on the international front , he just needs the right team to give him more playing time where he will be molded into a worldclass player like he has the potential to be.

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  22. He deserves a chance at Benfica but for some reason they aren’t seeing enough or they just dont trust his abilities. I haven’t really seen his games over there but the highlights and results show him producing when getting a shot. I would think if Benfica isnt considering him to be a part of their team this year that they should at least loan him out to get some experience.

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  23. Freddy is in a intresting situation.

    Striker, keeper even d-mid or fullback have been a positions Americans have played outside the US and in Europe, CAM would be a breakthrough. I don’t see giving the 19 year old American the keys to the very expensive car being somethign that will be done easily. Freddy needs to find a place that will allow him to play and who what he can or can’t do, game in and game out. I virtual national team of Portugal doing that with a young Yank, even if he was born in Ghana.

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  24. monaco would be a great idea, they’re american friendly and known for developing world class talent.

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  25. Freddy has won me over with his maturity, work ethic, and confidence. I would only be concerned if he were to STAY at Benfica and continue working his butt off to not even make the bench.

    Wherever he goes you can bet he’ll work his tail off. The simple fact that he retains his solid form despite not getting league games is encouraging. He’ll be fine.

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  26. To say Freddie couldnt start as an attacking midfielder in MLS is a little odd. Im pretty sure he could play that role on EVERY team and excel at it. When he finds his spot as a regular on whatever team he plays for I think there are going to be a few teams regretting not giving him a chance

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  27. Benfica has made a mistake by not taking Adu seriously. Adu needs to move to a club where he will receive regular playing time. However, he needs to also find a club that plays in a high level of competition. I would think his best bets would be a lower-level Serie A club or perhaps the Bundasliga (because Americans have received better acceptance there than in other European leagues.)

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  28. Adu needs consistant game action in Europe, whether in Portugal or elsewhere. He needs to go to a team that will covet him an asset to be used in first team action. He should look into a transfer…

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  29. I think Freddy should leave. We have seen him grow tremendously from his time at Benfica but I think he could start for a mid to low table team in France or Italy maybe even Spain.

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  30. At the age of 19 Adu couldn’t have realistically believed that Benfica would hand him the reigns to the midfield. No one else should’ve, either. He should continue to learn and grow, no matter where he is. Even if he was still in MLS I doubt he’d be starting regularly as any teams ACM, other than, maybe, San Jose. A loan to a team that needs him would be beneficial, but it wouldn’t be horrible to play behind Aimar.

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