MetroStars may look to add Adu

Freddy Adu of D.C. United recently acquired his driver's license. The question is where, if anywhere, the 16-year-old Adu wants to go.

Alexi Lalas, the new president and general manager of the MetroStars, has told anyone with a pen and a notebook that he wants players with talent, personality and popular appeal on his team to help revitalize the New York-area franchise. Last week, Lalas acquired two players with pizzazz — Tony Meola and Ryan Suarez — but what better fit could there be than landing Adu?

Perhaps it is pure fancy now, but Adu has had a difficult season in Major League Soccer and turned in mediocre performances at the recent world youth championships in the Netherlands. He missed two penalty kicks and never really appeared engaged.

With D.C. United, Adu, the league's highest-paid player, has averaged 50 minutes over 11 games, including five starts, this season. He has one goal with four assists. Coach Peter Nowak lifted him at halftime of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Columbus.

"We haven't thought about a trade for Freddy, but as with all our clients, at the end of the year it's normal to analyze the pros and cons and see if anything needs to be addressed," Richard Motzkin, Adu's agent, said in a telephone interview last week. Motzkin represents many of the top players in MLS, coaches and executives, including Lalas."I'm going to Portugal with Alexi, so now that you mention it, maybe we should talk about it."

Lalas played in a charity match organized by the Portugese star Luis Figo of Real Madrid over the weekend in the Algarve and returned to the United States on Monday, when his team was in Salt Lake City to play Real Salt Lake.

"The MetroStars would love nothing more than to have Freddy Adu," Lalas said in a telephone interview Monday night. "He would certainly play in New York. It's evident that he loves competition and wants to play, and we are certainly a team that would provide him with time on the field. I would love nothing more than for him to get fed up with D.C. Right now I think the situation is a little like a Bruce Lee movie without a fight. He's got the star power, but there hasn't been the payoff."