Freddy Adu says Cristiano Ronaldo was the only Manchester United player who made a point to interact with him during his trial at Old Trafford.
Adu went on trial in 2006 when he was just 16, two years after he had become the youngest player to ever sign in MLS.
He ultimately did not sign with the Red Devils and his career has since stalled, although at 32 he has insisted that he is not done with the game just yet.
What was said?
"Everybody is always talking about Ronaldo is arrogant, he is this and that, but let me tell you that out of all of the players that were there – he was the one person out of all of them that made it a point to come to me, to talk to me, offered to take me to dinner," Adu told BritishGambler.co.uk.
"He was an amazing person. Of course, I already had huge respect for Ronaldo, but after that, I had so much respect for him and he literally became my favourite player just because of the kind of person that he was and what I witnessed.
Next Match
"We had a little bit of a talk – I mostly trained with the U23s when I was there as I was only 16 years old at the time, but I did get a couple of training sessions in with the first team and it was awesome.
"At that point I was so young, I had the contract with D.C. United and MLS wasn’t ready to let me go anywhere at that point. So we spoke with Manchester United and [then-head coach] Sir Alex Ferguson who said he was going to keep an eye on me, and to keep doing what I was doing."
Adu isn't done yet
Adu, who was once compared to Pele and considered a future global star, did not hit the heights expected when he was a teenage prodigy.
The attacker embarked on a journeyman career that saw him play across Europe, North and South America, with his most recent stop being Las Vegas Lights FC in the American second tier.
Although he hasn't played professionally since 2018, Adu isn't closing the book on his career yet.
"I haven’t retired yet, I’m only 32, and I do have the urge to get back to playing again – I obviously have to get back on my horse and get extremely fit, and that’s going to be the hard part. I’m going to give it a go next year," Adu said.
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