Freddy Adu Loaned to Belenenses

For what seems like the entire summer, Freddy Adu's Twitter account has been buzzing with transfer speculation. The one-time U.S. wunderkind had fallen out of favor at Portuguese super club Benfica and Adu openly pined for a move to Dutch team Eredivisie in July after he returned to Portugal to train after two games with the U.S. National Team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Anyway, score one for traditional journalists as the Washington Post's Steven Goff beat Adu to the punch, announcing his loan to Belenenses about 45 minutes before the 20-year-old American midfielder could break the news to his followers.

As the frustration of his move away from Benfica began to set in, including a failed move to Odense of the Danish league, Adu's tweets became fewer and farther between. It seems, though, that the final move away from the Lisbon giants was a relief. For whatever the reasons, Adu and Benfica never found a common ground.

"Im excited about this new opportunity.Had to come down to the last day of the transfer window but it got done and i thank God."

This will be Adu's second loan away from Benfica after spending time at AS Monaco during the 2008-09. The move to Ligue 1 didn't exactly help the former D.C. United teenager advance his game, as he only was featured nine times.

How exactly the move to Belenenses pans out for Adu is anyone's guess, though it's a fairly simple equation.

It all boils down to playing time. Although he's still young another wasted year of sporadic first team action will further stunt his growth and curb the potential that had all of U.S. soccer buzzing when he made his MLS debut in 2004. It's nothing short of remarkable that since moving to Benfica in 2007, Adu has only made 20 first-team appearances. (Perhaps the 5-foot-8 Adu is a victim of the changing times, as soccer players across the board are getting bigger and stronger and the diminutive superstars like Lionel Messi are a dying breed.)

Being loaned to Belenenses -- currently seventh in the Portuguese Liga -- might actually benefit Adu since he's at least somewhat familiar with the league.

Of course it cannot be stressed enough, if he sits the bench and or struggles for playing time under Belenenses coach Joao Carlos Pereira, then Adu can kiss his fleeting chances of playing in the 2010 World Cup goodbye. As it stands, he has nine months to impress U.S. coach Bob Bradley and convince him that he's worthy of inclusion on the 23-man roster bound for South Africa, assuming the U.S. qualifies.

In the near term, Adu will get a chance to show Benfica what it's missing when the clubs meet next weekend.