INDIANAPOLIS – Freddy Adu’s future in Philadelphia is still very much an uncertain one heading into the preseason, but there’s at least one thing the Union know about the former teenage phenom.
He won’t be with the team when it opens camp on Monday.
“No,” Union head coach John Hackworth told reporters when asked if Adu will open camp next week. “There is [a decision that has to be made]. Freddy and I talked. We talk regularly. So until we get into camp I want to defer that one and address it at that time.”
Adu, 23, scored five goals and added one assist in 24 appearances last year, his first full season in Philadelphia since signing with the club in August 2011 under the watchful eye of former Union head coach Peter Nowak.
Adu publicly bemoaned his status with the club last August after playing for just eight minutes during a regular season game against Real Salt Lake and being pulled from a game against D.C. United in the 68th minute the week before, prompting Hackworth to later say that he and his star player needed to “have a heart-to-heart” conversation about his future.
“My role changed today where [Union interim manager John Hackworth] wanted to just bring me into the game and make a difference,” Adu said after the RSL game. “When I went in, I tried to do that. I created a couple of chances. But whatever. It is what it is.”
Hackworth told reporters in November that despite the apparent issues between the two, “I definitely think there’s a chance Freddy will be back” for the 2013 season.
“He’s a young player that has a ton of potential,” Hackworth said at the time. “Everyone knows that. Nobody knows that more than I do. And nobody believes in him as much as I do. But the reality is he has to focus and he has to change some things in order for him to reach that full potential. And that’s what this club needs. We don’t want any part of a player that doesn’t understand all of those demands.”
