British clubs Celtic and Tottenham could start a bidding war for Real Salt Lake midfielder Freddy Adu, according to Scottish paper The People. Scottish champion Celtic had hoped to sign the U.S. U-20 national team star as early as this week for a reported $2 million, but now Tottenham manager Martin Jol is understood to have also expressed interest in the 18-year-old Adu. (The People report erroneously refers to his age as 21.)
Selling Adu wouldn’t be the worst idea for struggling Salt Lake, which doesn’t seem to be getting enough production out of him anyway, although MLS would likely be opposed to a transfer. Letting him go for so little would be unwise; Freddy is still only 18 and his stock will rise — it’s certainly risen already after a series of fine performances at the U-20 World Cup.
According to Vital Football, English giants Manchester United and Chelsea are still interested in the player, too, but Celtic is the most keen on an imminent move. The Scottish champion plays the MLS All-Stars on Thursday. Adu won’t be playing, but his agent, Richard Motzkin, told the Scottish Sun he’d be at the All-Star Game: “[Celtic] are the Scottish champions and they’ve done well in the Champions League. Of course, they would interest someone like Freddy.”