It will not have escaped Freddy Adu’s mind that Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and England wunderkind Wayne Rooney both joined Manchester United when they were 18, the age he turns next year, writes Richard Jolly of ESPN Soccernet. Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson has long been a champion of youth: after all, it was he who let several seasoned veterans go in 1995 after an aging United slipped to second in the Premiership. Indeed, that decision marked the coming out of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers the next season, for which Ferguson was rewarded with a second league and cup double in three years. Adu is now hoping he becomes the latest member of Fergie’s latest “Fledgling” movement. Freddy is optimistic: “Hopefully, this leads to an offer in January or in the summer transfer window next year. That would be awesome.” Ferguson has said that United is not currently pursuing the teenager — the club can’t since he isn’t 18 — but would not rule out a possible swoop next summer or later. “He will go back to the United States, and we will keep a check on him. Then, when he is 18, we will have to assess what we can do next,” he said. However, Jolly points out that Adu didn’t really get the opportunity to train with the United first team in his two weeks in Manchester. At first, the D.C. United star was forced to train with the youth academy since the first team was busy with away trips to Sheffiled United and then Celtic; after that, a busy schedule meant that opportunities to train alongside Rooney and Ronaldo were scarce. After his two-week stay, which was a huge media play in England, John Richardson of the Sunday Express said the trial was “more commercially led than football driven because Adu is supposedly well short of the standards expected at Old Trafford although you are not likely to hear that.” If United never comes calling again, we’ll be left wondering if it was, indeed, just a publicity stunt.