Fredua Koranteng “Freddy” Adu (born 2 June 1989 in Tema, Ghana) is a football (soccer) player who competes for D.C. United in Major League Soccer.

Age 14, Adu became the youngest professional athlete in modern American team sports history when he signed a professional contract with Major League Soccer, the top league of the United States soccer pyramid. Adu is regarded as one of the most exciting young players in the world. Adu left Ghana with his family in 1997 and is now a resident of Potomac, Maryland. In 2003, he became a US citizen.

Adu dated American pop singer JoJo, from May 2005 until September 2006

Adu grew up in the port city of Tema in Ghana, where he played football barefoot against men three times his age. When he was eight, his mother won an immigration lottery, and he and his family moved to Washington, D.C. Soon thereafter, he was discovered by a local soccer coach and began playing with boys several years older. Adu attended The Heights School for several years, a prestigious private school in Potomac, Maryland. While playing with the US Olympic Development Program in Italy in successive annual trips, he played spectacularly in two tournaments. Adu was noticed by Italian soccer clubs, including Inter Milan, who discussed a six-figure offer for him that was turned down by his mother on the advice of his agents.

At age 13, Adu joined the IMG Soccer Academy, U.S. Soccer’s full-time residency program in Bradenton, Florida, in January 2002. He made his professional debut in Major League Soccer the following year at just 14, and now plays for the United States Under-20 national side.

Adu played for the US in two tournaments in 2003, the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland and the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates.

In order to allow Adu to play close to home, MLS assigned him to D.C. United on 18 November 2003, working a deal with the Dallas Burn who owned the top pick in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. Dallas was compensated with a player allocation. Having already signed with D.C. United, Adu effectively became the first player selected, in that draft, two months before it officially took place. D.C. United had previously signed American youngsters Bobby Convey in 2000 aged 16, and Santino Quaranta in 2001 at 16 years and four months – each at the time the youngest MLS player.

On 3 April, Adu came on in United’s first game of the 2004 season against the San Jose Earthquakes as a second-half substitute, making him the youngest player to appear in United States professional sports since 1887. The next youngest was fifteen-year-old Joe Nuxhall, who played Major League Baseball in Cincinnati in 1944. On 17 April, at the age of 14, Adu scored his first professional goal in the 75th minute of a 3-2 away loss against the MetroStars.

In his first season as a professional, Adu complained about playing time, and finished the year with five goals and three assists, while playing in all 30 regular season games. Although briefly a starter, Adu was relegated to a substitute when DC United acquired central midfielder Christian Gómez mid-season, and it was in this role that he appeared in United’s MLS Cup victory. He played in three of DC’s four playoff games, coming off the bench each time; he tallied one assist in the postseason.

Adu was criticized from a number of different angles in his first season as a professional. Some soccer commentators have suggested that Adu is too young to be playing professionally, and that he needs more time to develop mentally and physically amongst players his own age. Yet, his first two years in the MLS were punctuated by notable accomplishments including being awarded player of the week and goal of the week multiple times. His continued development, especially of his defensive skills, has led him to become a starting midfielder during the 2006 season. In addition, Adu has been chosen to take spot kicks during DC United’s two penalty shootouts, and has not missed. He has been selected to the MLS All-Star team twice, once as a commissioner’s choice and once as the coach’s. He was selected to the MLS 2006 semifinals Best XI by SoccerAmerica magazine.

Adu was invited to his first U.S. senior squad by coach Bruce Arena in January 2006. On 22 January 2006, Adu became the youngest player to compete for the United States Men’s National Team when he replaced an injured Eddie Johnson in the 81st minute of a friendly game against Canada. Apparently, this game has not tied Adu to the US national team and the current president of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati, says he would not stand in Adu’s way if he desired to play for Ghana.

Adu was left out of the US national team when its final 2006 FIFA World Cup roster was chosen. According to Arena, his “best chance of making the World Cup Team was playing regularly for DC United”, though he started for United 16 games in the 2005 season.

On 27 September 2006 it was reported in The Sun newspaper that Chelsea of the English Premier League had rejected an option to sign Freddy Adu on loan in January 2007 with a view to a permanent £5m transfer deal, after the loan period. Reading recently promoted to the English Premier League were also reported to have turned him down, even at a reduced fee of £3m.

On 8 November, 2006, The Washington Post reported that Adu would spend two weeks training with Manchester United, a franchise owned by Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer, on the 18 November, 2006. Manchester United later refuted, with some embarrassment, the claims repeated in the following mornings British press, stating they had not changed their position from 2005: “The reports contradict statements released last season in which Manchester United expressly pointed out that Adu was not a player they are aware of nor interested in. Despite some recent speculation, Manchester United’s stance has not changed and this Adu will not be attending a trial.”‘

However, on 9 November 2006 Manchester United confirmed that Adu will be attending a 2-week trial with them at the end of November.