By IVES GALARCEP
The Philadelphia Union are ready to part ways with midfielder Freddy Adu and are working hard to ship him out either via transfer or on loan before the start of the 2013 MLS season.
Union head coach John Hackworth revealed the team’s plans in a letter to season ticket holders issued on Sunday. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
And now to the elephant in the room, if you will, Freddy Adu.
Much like Carlos, this was also a conversation that started before the end of last season. Basically, to make a very long story short, we presented Freddy with an option to come back and play for the Philadelphia Union. However, Freddy chose to stick with his current contract, which was not an option we were willing to accept. At the moment, Freddy has not been sold nor loaned and he continues to be our player, but in reality, while we are paying his salary and while we have his rights – he is not a part of our plans going forward. We have a number of challenges because of moves we have made in the past couple of years that affect us long term and frankly, Freddy Adu is a major one. The next step for him is one that we have been trying to work on since October, which is to see if there is a viable option to sell or loan him that makes sense for our organization and for Freddy.
In other words, Adu has played his last game with the Union. What remains now is just how the Union will ship off their most expensive player.
The Union pushed Adu to renegotiate his contract, but there was little motivation for Adu to change his deal considering he is on a guaranteed deal in 2013 at a salary between $600,000 and $800,000.
Adu endured a disappointing 2012 season, during which he managed five goals and one assist. He was far from alone in his struggles on the Union in 2012, with the team’s inconsistent attack also contributing to Adu’s poor production.
The Union have tried to shop Adu within MLS, but his salary made a deal within the league all but impossible. That leaves Philadelphia with the option of finding a foreign club to take Adu off their hands (or for Adu to find a foreign club that will be a good fit for him). As of Monday, remains to be seen just where Adu might wind up.
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