We probably didn’t need this kind of iron-clad confirmation to know that Freddy Adu was done with the Philadelphia Union – but we got it anyway.
Not everyone agrees, but I personally enjoy this type of candor from those in power.
In a letter to fans this morning, Union manager John Hackworth has provided confirmation (as we speculated late last week) that Adu’s days at PPL Park are, indeed, numbered.
In theory, one could contest that public acknowledgement of this decision makes a move more difficult, or diminishes the potential financial return.
But, honestly, who’s kidding whom here? Adu was barely a part of the team late last year under Hackworth. Everybody noticed. You think officials at potential destinations would believe Hackworth if the Union manager picked up the phone and said, “We love this guy! We’re gonna build the team around him. Heck, we’re thinking of renaming the damn stadium after our little Freddy. I mean, we might think about handing him over for the right price, but …”
No. Everyone knows the deal. So why not come out and talk about it? Get it all out there … especially around a bunch of faithful supporters who feel like team officials haven’t always been as forthcoming as they might have been.
Here’s the critical part of what Hackworth wrote to supporters on Monday:... This was also a conversation that started before the end of last season. Basically, to make a very long story short, we presented Freddy with an option to come back and play for the Philadelphia Union. However, Freddy chose to stick with his current contract, which was not an option we were willing to accept.
“At the moment, Freddy has not been sold nor loaned and he continues to be our player, but in reality, while we are paying his salary and while we have his rights - he is not a part of our plans going forward. We have a number of challenges because of moves we have made in the past couple of years that affect us long term and frankly, Freddy Adu is a major one. The next step for him is one that we have been trying to work on since October, which is to see if there is a viable option to sell or loan him that makes sense for our organization and for Freddy.”