Stating The Obvious (and Selfish) Truth: Freddy Adu Edition

Above:  Freddy Adu happy in a Benfica shirt.  A sight that you, I, Freddy, and (most importantly) the people at Benfica know we will never see again.  This morning, it was reported that Freddy is being dropped by Belenenses, the last place (10pts in 14 games) club that has had him on loan all season.

Can we all come to an agreement, and finally say that Freddy Adu is not yet ready for Europe?

I don't care about the prestige of European football.  I don't care about the high wages.  I don't care if Freddy is somehow bound by the weight of his own hype.

I do care that one of the best teenagers in American soccer history has amounted to no more than a rotting corpse on the bench of a series of 3rd rate clubs.  It's an incredible talent being wasted by ego, money, fear, and that godawful word that Americans use far too much in all walks of life:  "potential".

On a selfish level, this is killing me, because the perfect landing place for the still ridiculously young Adu is my own home team.  A team in desperate need of a creative attacking midfielder.  A team looking to boost its image in New York City.  A team looking for a young marketable star to sell to the public.  But of course...we're talking about MLS, a league where the obvious never happens, so I know better then to dream.

NY fans are all set to dunkenly piss themselves if/when we land Dilly Duka on draft day.  Duka's a kid most of us have maybe seen twice and don't know beyond a few scouting reports.  No thank you.  He's all yours, Seattle.  I want Freddy.  He's the perfect Step 1 in the Red Bull Recovery Plan, and I'm certain that at any sub-DP price tag, he's worth it.  His value has never been lower, and the transfer window is days away.  NOW is the time for Red Bull to prove that they have half a clue about what to do with their stepchild franchise in The Big Apple Jersey.

I don't want to hear shit about allocations, salary caps, or any of that nonsense.  MLS rules favor the bold.  Ask the Galaxy.  If you want to play it fair...fine.  We have 2 first round picks in the coming draft.  Leeeeet's be bold, go out on a limb and say neither of the 2 kids we pick up from college will be as valuable on OR off the field as Freddy Adu.  Trade the picks.  Move up the allocation order.  Get him in.  No excuses.

The coming availability of this young, potential MLS superstar represents the new RBNY front office's first chance to prove that they are something different than when we've dealt with since 1996.  Are they smart enough to do the right thing?