Adu loaned to Monaco

Freddy Adu's long-rumored move to French club AS Monaco has happened.

Adu is set to leave Benfica and join Monaco on loan, with Monaco holding an option to buy the U.S. Olympic team playmaker.

Adu leaves Benfica after one season, a season which he started strongly but ended with him failing to see any first-team action in the final half of the campaign.

Adu could wind up starting for Monaco if, as expected, the club sells young French playmaker Jeremy Menez, who is drawing interest from several of Europe's top teams. Menez, 21, is one of the most highly-regarded young midfielders in Europe and appears to be a safe bet to move on, with Inter Milan and Portsmouth among the interested clubs.

Still just 19, Adu is in U.S. Olympic Team training camp and will join Monaco after the Olympics.

What do you think of Adu moving to Monaco? Share your thoughts on the move below.

Comments

[John]

Wow, to be 20 and living in Monaco. Awesome life. Or should I say 24 (just kidding)

[Sinter]

I like it, especially if he gets significant first team action.

Anyone know of Monaco's situation at his favored positions better?

[dave from newcastle]

who wouldn't want to live in Monaco?

[Victor]

good on ya, freddy. now if michael bradley can move there too, what great chemistry they could develop and transfer to the national team.

[Dylan]

AS Monaco have said Freddy is their top target in their rebuilding process. He'll get playing time, if not start, right from the start. My guess is he'll be a starter.

Also, Monaco still has an offer out, worth around 14 million euros for Michael Bradley. Heerenveen looks like they want to keep him though.

[Adam]

Good on Adu, hopefully he gets some playing time!

Bradley ought to head to Boro though, he's Premier League material!

[Aljarov]

Adam -

Boro? Bradley is better than that...Boro will be lucky to stay in the EPL next season if they're anything like as bad as last season.

[kpugs]

He could do far worse. Good luck Freddy my man.

[Alex]

I like this move for Freddy. I think Ligue 1 is a good place for him to develop.

[AJ]

Bradley to Boro?

Please no more Americans to marginal EPL teams. We need players to develop skills other than punting and chasing.

[combo breaker karma]

hopefully in a few years time we can add his name to that list of legends who passed through Monaco

[Freddy Adu]

Monaco sucks. I lived there for 2 years and it's pretty much a bunch of casinos. The games only get like 6,000 fans. It's good because he will play but Monaco isn't that night.

[papa bear]

Great move for Adu. Monaco is a solid club with a very good history of developing top talent. Plus as many have said, who wouldn't want to partake of the nightlife in Monaco?

@Posted by:Dylan | July 21, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Why on earth would Heerenveen want to keep him? He walks on a free after this year and has said is is going to move on. Who can blame him really as there are even better clubs in the Netherlands he could play for.
They might be holding out for more money, but I have no doubts they want to unload him while they can. If they wait til January they are going to get even less money then they'll get now.

@Posted by:AJ | July 21, 2008 at 08:03 PM
Amen

[Bob]

AS Monaco is a good place for Freddy. Ligue 1 is on the same level as Portugal, so at least he will not experience any severe drop-off in competition.

Monaco itself is not a bad place, but he could live anywhere on the French Riviera and have a fine life. Nice is only a little way away and there are many fine towns between there and Monaco.

[mymy33]

AMEN AJ!!!

Anyway, I think this is a great move for Freddy! Ligue is a good fit for his current skill set. Look at the young products they are pumping out to the big leagues. Hopefully he plays like he's got something to prove because he does. I was nervous when Flores was appointed coach but this is a win-win situation for everyone.

[quartz62]

as a Benfica fan I'm pretty pissed that he got the shaft after being brought there!!! I wished he had played more for Benfica so they could see his real caliber.

[Dr. Rockzo, The Rock N' Roll Clown]

I love this move. Can't wait to try to find an Adu Monaco jersey.

[Matt]

Man, I'm very excited about this! Does anyone know how we can watch some French league games? I feel like FSC has next to nothing. Does Setanta have better coverage?

[Katatonia]

FSC doesnt cover Ligue 1
Setanta gets 2 games a week

[SonicDeathMonkey]

I don't care where Freddie goes, as long as he gets first team action.

[Ted]

"Man, I'm very excited about this! Does anyone know how we can watch some French league games? I feel like FSC has next to nothing. Does Setanta have better coverage?

Posted by:Matt | July 21, 2008 at 08:37 PM"

I don't have Setanta anymore, but if I remember correctly, they broadcast a few Ligue 1 games each weekend.

If you can't get Setanta on TV, their broadband channel is the same price and offers more programming. Quality is pretty high for watching a game over the Internet.

[Michael F.]

I'm bummed Benfica gave up on him so soon. Every time he was on the field for them he did good. I think the coaching carousel didn't help. At least he'll get first team help and hopefully start. If he stars, I really think he'll take off.

[Al17]

1. Freddy will get lots of playing time. He won't come in and start but he will get a chance to shine w/o the B.S. he went through last season. He will definitely shine in Monaco and I expect this to be a permanent move.

2. Ligue 1 is definitely a much better league than the Portuguese top league - for the knucklehead claiming it's on the same level.

3. Finding a Monaco jersey "les Monagesques" and watching them on TV won't be hard. Setants shows Ligue 1 and Monaco is on quite a bit.

[Mike]

As a HUGE Benfica fan, this move sucks as I would've loved to see Freddy stay and really make his mark. It didnt help that the coach that brought him in was gone by midseason.

Nevertheless, this is a good move for Adu as it will allow him to see regular playing time. My hopes are he has a great season and goes back to Benfica but I dont see that happening because Monaco would obviously resign him if that's the case.

Good luck Freddy!

I bid you Adu...

[Aquaman]

I wish I had setanta. All the info I get on Ligue 1 I have to find on the internet. Monaco at least has a few good players in Piquionne and a good young keeper in Ruffier. I would see Adu playing in the midfield but you could also see a smaller Adu playing next to a relatively big (6'2") Piquionne, but I think whether or not they lose Menez will determine where he plays.

[Bob]

Setanta usually shows the Sunday games.

[Eugene]

Poor. I hope he find more success in Monaco than at Benfica. But I don't believe moving on so frequently will give him an opportunity to develop as a player.

Honestly, Monaco is a step down from Benfica, but if he does well there he can still get picked up by a major squad.

[Blake]

I'm thrilled. Ligue 1 (and Monaco in particular) has really proven its mettle in developing the best of the best attacking talent. Remember that Henry, Trezeguet, and Adebayor all passed through Monaco. This is the move Freddy needed to achieve his potential.

[tim]

You can get Setanta Broadband. If I remember correctly they have Ligue 1 games. Not a ton, but a few a week. And Dutch football too, as well as a lot of BPL coverage. I got it this past season, then cancelled when the season was over. Pretty good quality for online video. I think it's $15 a month. I'd definitely recommend it.

[tomaz]

he will return to benfica's squad next year, for sure, i'm glad he has the opportunity to play, this year at benfica would be quite difficult for him, he needs to play more in order to replace Rui Costa in the main squad

[matt]

Benfica just bought Pablo Aimar, so Adu would be riding the bench another year...though he could surely learn a thing or two from training with 'El Payaso'.

This is great news for an American jersey dork, as Monaco's traditional uniform design is one of the coolest.

[Danny]

As I big Benfica fan...im really pissed to see Adu leave...he could of had a bright future in portugal but now its over...

to talk more about adu leaving benfica...vist PFutebol.com

[Nic]

Anyone have any idea what the fee will be if Monaco decides to buy Freddy after the end of his loan period?

[Modibo]

Good for Freddy. Good for Monaco. I would like to see him playing for Marseille, but that's another story. Lots of great African talent in France; Freddy might think more about kitting up for Ghana if he didn't already have full team caps.

[Tommy]

It will be for a profit. They bought him for 2 million. Was it Euros or Dollars?

[thesportsaffiliate.com]

Does AS Monaco play on any of the soccer channels in the US ? DirecTV carries GolTV, Setanta, and FSC. Benfica games aired once in a while on some of these channels.

[michael]

More of our guys need to play in leagues that play a bit more technical. I think places like France are a great place to grow as a player. How does one develop when you're launching the ball down the field. This has to beat playing for Fulham, Reading, or some other relegation threatened club.

James Bond would agree.

[vdocer]

lique 1 is better than the Portuguese league. barely any dropoff competetively between the best of the ligue and the worst

[wendel]

all these americans (ok 3) are playing in ligue 1 just as i get set to move to paris....sweet i'll deff check out carlos and freddy when they come to town.

[mig22]

Good for Freddy. And out of nowhere this morning, I'm hearing about English interest in Landon.

[kyle]

Where are u hearing about landon? Where do you people get this inside info lol its killing me. I want in on this..

[Felix]

Hopefully Freddy will get significant playing time at Monaco although I do feel its a step down from Benfica (which is guaranteed European football every year). Its a shame Adu couldn't catch on with Benfica, but with 4 coaching changes in one year and Freddy's various call-ups, its not that surprising. I know the atmosphere at Monaco won't come close to rivaling what he experienced with Benfica, but he's getting another great city to live in. First Lisbon and now Monaco, thats a long way from Tema, Ghana.

[mig22]

Sorry Kyle, I should have posted that link. I'm not a big fan of Yanks-Abroad but I got a call from a buddy that is a little bit connected to the rumor mill and he asked me last night to poke around as he was temporarily without internet. The only thing I found was the Y-A story.

[mike froml linden]

in my mind i think this is better for adu, not as much violence at games, better competition. the only thing worse is the women lol

[KingSnake]

Worse looking women ... in Monaco? Are you serious?

[Betinho]

This is good. I'm happy for him. It will be good for him to get more palying time. I still rememeber some exec of Benifca calling Adu the future of Benfica. I'm not sure his days there are through. I believe they are in serious need of competing for a league title and Freddy might not be able to crack the starting 11 yet so....Monaco can give him what they can't. In the meantime maybe he can raise his worth and skill.

It would be good to him together with Bradley. That could only bode well for the USMNT chemistry. I just noticed that Bradley only had 8 yellow cards last season. Doesn't her normally get that in 7 games??? Maybe Papa Bradley might want to move him forward a little. That would help my nerves to not have to worry about Michael's inevitable 2 foot, studs up, late tackle that comes seemingly every game. He's going to pull a Matroeni v Italy one of these days....

That Landon article seems to insinuate that he wants to play for Arsenal. Anybody else get that? That would be shocking! And never gonna happen...

[mig22]

yeah, it would be a stretch for LD to see the field for Arsenal. But who knows, maybe Spurs? Probably not but if they lose both Keane and Berbatov, Ramos might just convert that team to 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-1-1. It ain't impossible.

As for attacking, flowing football in the Prem, there are not many choices...Newcastle sometimes, Villa scores a lot but is a bit more traditionally EPL in their approach.

Thoughts?

[Johnny]

Here is what we need now...
-Freddy Adu to play...alot with his new club
-Micahel Bradley to finally transfer and I hope before the olympics start.
-Michael Bradley to not play defensive mid for Peter Novak
-Jozy Altidore to Seize the opportunity of a veteran villareal foward goes down for the first half of the season
-Brad Guzan to fight his way to a starting role against whoever (Friedel, the keeper from Valencia, Ben Foster on loan, etc.) else Aston Villa brings in to compete at goal keeper.
-Landon Donovan to finally transfer to a top league as the best American field player ever?

Dream a little dream with me...

[betinho]

I'm not sure who else he could be talking about other than Arsenal.

Man City? They seem to be talking about wanting to play a more possesion game. I just wonder where he would be valued in the EPL. Spurs would be cool and you are right - w/o Keene and Berbatov...they need some help up top and price wise I think Landon would be a good value.

[Betinho]

By the way, re: Adu,..does 5 goals in 21 matches suck? Especially with most minutes as a late sub? That's what Adu put up with Benfica in all competitions. If you break it down to goals per minutes played it averages out a goal per game (every 82 minutes). Just sayin...