No Adu deal in offing for United

Alex Ferguson has insisted Manchester United are not attempting to sign American teenager Freddie Adu.

The 16-year-old has long been tipped for stardom and is hoping to force his way into the USA World Cup squad this summer, before making a move to one of the major European leagues in time for next season.

Chelsea are believed to be monitoring Adu’s progress in Major League Soccer (MLS) with DC United, while the teenager’s agent Richard Motzkin yesterday claimed United were interested in luring him to the Barclays Premiership as well.

Ferguson admits Red Devils officials have watched Adu but he declared there is no immediate chance of the youngster joining United.

“We are not interested in Freddie Adu,” the Scot told MUTV. “We have watched him as a youngster, but there is no interest in him at the moment.”

Any attempt to sign Adu would have to go through MLS, who own Adu’s contract - and there would be an obvious difficulty in securing a UK work permit for a player who has only recently been capped by his country.