For Adu, the right way means not letting clubs turn his potential interest, or even arrival, into a sideshow. The reality is Adu’s name still generates interest around the world, even with the struggles he has endured. Adu inspired a generation of youngsters to dream big more than a dozen years ago, and many of those same fans he made then still keep tabs on his every move.

For that reason, Adu remains an attention magnet, and is still one of the most recognizable American soccer players on the planet. It is that fame that still has led team after team to try and bring in Adu with the hope of generating some attention rather than in a real effort to sign Adu the player.

“Everywhere that I’ve tried to go to, it seems like in the last two years has made this big hoopla about me potentially coming there or me coming there,” Adu said. “It’s something that I really wish wouldn’t be the case. I really wish I could fly under the radar, which I’m probably deluded thinking that way.

“For whatever reason, when it comes to stuff about me people like to leak stuff and make it a big thing,” Adu added.



“I wish everything could just fly under the radar, and if something concrete really comes up then let the news come out.”

His last attempt to revive his career saw him go to Poland for what he thought was a real opportunity with first-division side Sandecja Nowy Sacz. The only problem was the team’s sporting director didn’t bother to clear the move with his head coach, who wanted no part of signing Adu. That didn’t stop the club from trying to turn Adu’s arrival into a media circus.

Adu chose to stay home in Maryland and regroup rather than rushing into another bad move after his failed foray in Poland. He let out a big laugh when asked about rumors of retirement, and of financial troubles, pointing to the real estate business he has started.

“The last year I’ve been trying to just stay low key, spend time with my family, and train to get back playing,” Adu said. “I obviously want to get back into playing because that’s what I love to do. And being away from soccer so long, I miss it man. I miss it more than anything else in the world. I’m 28, I’ve got plenty of career left in me, and plenty of soccer left in me, so I’m trying to make the right decision.”

Rumors popped up recently in Sweden linking him to a second-division club in one of the few countries he hasn’t played in previously. Adu told Goal that there is nothing concrete yet in Sweden as far as a move, only that there is some interest from clubs there.

At this point, any career revival will require Adu to play in a lower division. That’s something that might have bothered Adu in the past, but at this point he is ready to play at whatever level he needs to in order to get back on the field and play regularly.

“I’m not worried about what anyone thinks,” Adu said.



“Wherever I’m going to go, whether it’s third division, second division, it doesn’t matter to me anymore because all I care about is getting my career back on track and I have to start somewhere, especially after not playing for a whole year. It just has to be the right situation and the right environment that’s going to help me.

“I just want to play soccer again. I miss it. I want to be around the guys, going to training every morning, being back on the field.”

Interest from clubs could be hard to come by given how long it has been since he last played, though it was just a year ago when the Portland Timbers gave Adu a look during the MLS preseason. The consensus in Timbers circles back then was that he was well off the pace to be a contributor in the North American league. Adu has fully grasped that he will have to start on a lower level potentially than he has ever played before in order to revive his career.