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Adu parts ways with Serbian club FK Jagodina

Freddy Adu

By RYAN TOLMICH

Freddy Adu is once again back on the open market.

Adu has parted ways with Serbian side FK Jagodina after making just one first team appearance, in a cup game, for the club. Adu’s time with the club lasted just five months.

Reports in Europe stated that Adu had been released, but the 25-year-old attacker took to Twitter on Monday to say that he had been expecting to move on for some time.

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The former U.S. Men’s National Team player – who has played for 10 clubs in his career – did not make an appearance in a league game for Jagodina and saw just 13 minutes of action in a cup matchup back in September.

He was originally signed in late July by manager Mladen Dodic, who was subsequently fired in September following a series of poor on-the-field results.

Adu, who has played just 59 minutes since the conclusion of the 2012 MLS season, previously suffered through a similar situation with Brazilian club Bahia, who released Adu in November 2013 after a seven-month stay.

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What do you think of Adu’s departure? Where do you see him moving to next? Surprised by his struggles for playing time these past two years?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. He should join the USA Beach Soccer or Futsal team

    At this point I think we have figured out he isn’t the type to hold down a position or practice everyday. But he still has skills

    Reply
  2. He obviously doesn’t care about soccer. It’s a paycheck but nothing more to him. His career hasn’t been wrecked by bad choices or poor advice from agents. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to be a soccer player. It’s no more complicated than that.

    Reply
    • OBVIOUSLY. I mean, coming from a close, personal friend of Freddy Adu like you’re self, it’s clear to see. Seldom do we, as fans get a glimpse into the deep, personal thoughts of athletes.

      Good thing you’re here though to set the record straight! He told you all about his distaste for the sport over tea and scrumpets didn’t he?

      Reply
  3. It’s called “rope-a-dope”. Adu is going to make a surprise transfer to Napoli, emerge as the Coming of America’s Great #10, and then start a Nike lifestyle brand second only to Air Jordan.

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  4. Honestly though, who is advising him? He wasn’t all THAT bad for Philly, and could have stuck around MLS if he was willing to take a bit less money and cut out the turnovers. The Union wanted him out because he showboated and didn’t play defense, and his solution was to try and go somewhere (Brazil) where showboating and not playing defense is perfectly OK, instead of correcting those attributes of his game. What a surprise, it was a disaster, and now we have this fiasco. Alright sure, maybe he wasn’t “released” but the fact that the best he can do at this point in his career is a 6 month contract with a Serbian team is pretty damning evidence of his current value as a player.

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  5. Freddy go play in the Aussie A-League.

    Travel while you are still young, easy place to adapt and people are much, much mellower than the US. Defending is horrible in that league so you should be good to go. Also, Aussie $ lost a bit to the USD, but still close enough for you to get paid what you’re getting now.

    Join a team that qualified to play in the Asian Champions League so you can go to see cool places in Asia.

    Reply
  6. I doubt anyone actually knows, but any clue why he didn’t play?

    It seems pretty clear at this point that he doesn’t have the chops to play at “the highest level”, but certainly the Serbian league is more than a few steps below that level.

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      • that would be a horrible reason not to play someone. in fact, you’d probably have to bench most of the top players in the world if that was the case.

    • if you’re looking for a serious answer, it’s likely one of two choices:

      1) adu didn’t train hard, or just wasn’t as good as his competition

      2) the manager who brought him in was fired after a month or so, and the next manager didn’t feel like taking a flier (cause that’s what adu is at this point) on him

      Reply
  7. Following Adu’s career is like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but with two significant differences: (1) the dispatcher keeps giving the engineer bad advice that points the train straight to more danger, and (2) insruance keeps paying out so the railroad actually makes plenty of money.

    Reply
  8. Jalen Rose has a saying about a certain time of NBA player: “Keep gettin dem checks.”

    Pretty much applies to Freddy. His name made sure that he kept getting checks, but it probably derailed any chance he had a real career.

    But then again, who knows? Maybe Freddy realized that accepting a much lower salary in exchange for playing time would have exposed the fact that he was never going to grow into a complete player. He might have just been realistic about his own abilities and used his popularity to maximize his earning potential.

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  9. I can’t wait for the book. It will be fascinating. Say what you want, but the guy has had an interesting life and plenty of people go to the grave not having a tenth of the travel experiences of this guy. If he can go somewhere, ANYWHERE, at a decent level and be productive then he should have several more chapters to write…

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  10. Ronaldo’s new team in Florida is having trials and it’s only $250 fee. I believe he may be able to afford that since I saw in his IG he bought a ver expensive Luxuman watch for $500 dollars. Not to mention his IG header says that he’s part of the USMNT he should just walk right in. They would be delucional to not take him.

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  11. Listen, my friends. The Cosmos should sign this guy and Agudelo. They both need to get minutes. I will watch over both of them from heaven.

    Now I must go back to the Great Disco in the Sky.

    Reply
  12. If he still wants to play, he will eventually find a home and have a solid career, probably in North America. People can disagree on how good he was with the Union, but there is no question that he was good enough for that level. Maybe not worth the size of his contract, but he was definitely not out of place. After all of this, he is still worth a $100k contract in this league, especially if he knows some of the guys already. Not really a sad story..he has made a ton of money and has lived in some amazing places…

    Reply
  13. I hope Juan Agudelo is paying attention to this cautionary tale. He’d better find a club that fits him and will play him and stop with the disjointed European money hunt or he’ll be following in Freddie’s footsteps before he knows it.

    Reply
    • That’s an odd case, huh? No reason why Juan shouldn’t be playing in Belgium, Netherlands, even France right now. And we all know he’d be hot property in the US.

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      • Who knows if there are clubs in the those countries that are interested. But Juan needs to be playing somewhere. It’s getting ridiculous.

    • At this point, I think that is the only level he could play at and make a starting roster. That doesn’t mean it’s the end… It just is where he is at right now. I would take him here in San Antonio for about $60K-$70K, not much more.

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    • Interesting… One of these guys is being lauded As an exciting signing of a young guy with attacking talent! And one of these guys is being lambasted as a bust! I wonder which one is which?

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    • That’s a real stretch. Half of those clubs were loan deals. I know Adu went on loan too but at this point at least Nemeth has played consistently for the past two years. That said, I don’t think the Nemeth signing is anything to get that excited about.

      Reply
  14. The disassociation with reality in Adu has never been more present than his tweet displayed.

    Speaking of #Truth, I wonder what’s more factual: Adu’s (listed) age or Adu’s perception of his own ability

    Reply

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