Freddy Adu hasn’t played professional soccer in over a year, but he isn’t hanging up his boots quite yet.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the former teenage star is trying to get his career started again with USL expansion side Las Vegas Lights FC. He will join the club on a tryout basis this preseason.
Adu hasn’t played professional soccer in more than a year and took the entirety of 2017 off. He recently spoke to Goal.com about his desire to return to the game and not call it a career quite yet.
“I’ve never, ever come close to thinking about retiring,” he said. “I can’t see my life without soccer and my eyes were wide open this year while I wasn’t playing. It’s so a part of me that when it’s not there, there’s a big hole. I love it so much, I want to get back to it, but I want to do it the right way.”
His last attempt at a career revival came last summer in Poland, when he thought he was signing with Sandecja Nowy Sacz in the Ekstraklasa, Poland’s first division. However, the move fell through when the head coach of the team didn’t clear the sporting director to make the move.
Before that, he had a preseason trial with the Portland Timbers that didn’t lead anywhere.
The time off has only increased the former wonder-teen’s desire to resurrect his career.
“The last year I’ve been trying to just stay low key, spend time with my family, and train to get back playing,” Adu said. “I obviously want to get back into playing because that’s what I love to do. And being away from soccer so long, I miss it man. I miss it more than anything else in the world. I’m 28, I’ve got plenty of career left in me, and plenty of soccer left in me, so I’m trying to make the right decision.”
He’s come to terms that a lower division club is the way to go, as evidenced by this latest effort to latch on to a USL side.
“Wherever I’m going to go, whether it’s third division, second division, it doesn’t matter to me anymore because all I care about is getting my career back on track and I have to start somewhere, especially after not playing for a whole year. It just has to be the right situation and the right environment that’s going to help me.
“I just want to play soccer again. I miss it. I want to be around the guys, going to training every morning, being back on the field.”