Adu dishes on his move to Portugal, MLS swan song

Freddy Adu's $2 million move to Benfica gives him the chance to play in the European Champions League in front of 65,000 fans. AP

MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

On Wednesday night SI.com snagged the first interview with Freddy Adu since the 18-year-old U.S. attacking midfielder signed a five-year contract with the Portuguese powerhouse Benfica.

Adu is coming off a standout performance at the Under-20 World Cup, and his move to European soccer ends a three-and-a-half year MLS career with D.C. United and Real Salt Lake that was marked by insanely high expectations when he signed with the league at 14, occasional highlight-reel moments and (let's be honest) a fair amount of frustration by both Adu and his MLS coaches.

MLS agreed to sell Adu to Benfica for a $2 million transfer fee, which seems low at first, but it was also the result of some uncommon circumstances. The guaranteed part of Adu's four-year MLS contract was set to end after this season, and MLS figured it should get something for Adu instead of letting him go on a free transfer at the end of this season.

While MLS retained another two-year league option on Adu, it was unlikely that any MLS teams would be willing to use a precious Designated Player slot (and pay Adu's salary, which was set to rise to around $750,000) on an 18-year-old whose career is still about potential. Benfica, on the other hand, has no salary cap to worry about and can still invest in Adu's potential, whereas an MLS team wouldn't want to with a player who has repeatedly stated his desire to move to Europe.

In our conversation, Adu touched on several topics, including his reasons for going to Benfica, his desire to play immediately, his explanation for performing better at the U-20 World Cup than in MLS, the lessons he learned in MLS, his advice for top MLS prospect Jozy Altidore and his excitement to join his new team.

SI.com: What were the reasons that made you finally decide in the end that Benfica was the right club for you?

Adu: Well, I had a lot of help in making that decision. Before the Under-20 World Cup I felt like I wanted to play for four years in MLS and then leave, so I was kind of trying to leave in the winter transfer window. But I had a lot of help from guys like Trevor [Moawad, Adu's mental-conditioning coach] and Michael Johnson [the former track-and-field star and a close adviser], who I talked to for over a week. These guys were like, "You know what: You're hot right now, your stock is high and Benfica is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so what are you waiting for?"

I was like, this is my life and my career. For about a week I thought about it a lot. I had headaches thinking about it, but Benfica has developed some of the best players in Europe, and they have a great tradition, a great stadium and a great following. This happens once in a lifetime, and I need to take full advantage of that, and I finally decided I wanted to go.

SI.com: In what ways will this experience in Portugal be different from MLS?

Adu: This is much different. I mean, everybody is extremely technically gifted. It's one of the best leagues in Europe in football. Benfica in my opinion is one of the top 10 biggest clubs in the world. But I'm ready for it. I've prepared myself for it. My confidence level is as high as it's ever been right now. I'm not getting carried away. I just want to go in with the right attitude and from Day 1 make a difference. After my first practice with the team, the coach [Fernando Santos] asked me: What do you like to play best? Those are the sweetest words I've ever heard. That just means the coach wants to put you in a situation where you can help the team. That's a great feeling.

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