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Originally Posted by ukhotstove
It isn't but the hype surrounding Adu a couple of years ago was alot more than signing for Benfica for peanuts, makes it even worse in todays over inflated transfer market that see's players like Chopra who goes for £5 million. Adu is 18 ? so odds are he will never reach the potential that people were saying he would a couple of years ago.
Maradona's potential was to become one of the greatest players ever and he lived up to that potential, Adu's potential was to become of one if not the best American at least to play the game, you've seen more MLS than me so where would you rate Adu at the moment ? top 10 ? top 20 ?
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Right now Adu is the best teenager ever to play for America, just ahead of Landon Donovan. I think he still has the potential to be the best American to ever play the game. I have no idea whether he'll fulfill that potential, though, as 18 is way too early to be making judgement's about a player's career. He certainly has the physical talent to do so, though.
The thing to remember is that the idea of someone playing professionally before the age of 18 is still a relatively new one in America. So far as I know, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley are the only other major American players to do so. Most of the top American players like Eric Wynalda, Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, or Carlos Bocanegra didn't turn pro until they turned twenty or twenty-one, actually. Hell, even in Europe 18 is a pretty early age to be playing with a senior squad, isn't it? I think it's only fair to reserve opinions on Adu until at least his second season with Benfica.