Freddy Adu was once thought of as the brightest talent in world football. He signed his first professional contract - and a $1million contract with Nike - at the age of 14, making him the youngest athlete in history to sign a professional deal with a sports team.

He was deemed good enough to make his MLS debut shortly after - making him the youngest player in the history of professional team sports. He scored his first goal, still aged just 14, which made him the youngest goalscorer in MLS history.

With every big club worth mentioning tracking him and a couple of years in MLS under his belt, Adu was under intense pressure to make a big move out of America. He had the opportunity to join the biggest academies in the world, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man Utd etc. all interested, but he opted to join Benfica, where he was told he could have first team football immediately.

Aged 17, he made his Benfica debut. After just a handful of poor performances, they wanted rid of him. It was clear he was out of his depth. His development had stalled and he simply wasn't good enough to play against top level players. He was loaned out four times and each loan reportedly included an option to buy. Nobody bought him.

Today, after a semi-successful season at Philadelphia Union, he's signed for Brazilian club Bahia. Let this be a lesson to any young footballers who may be reading - develop while you're young, compete when you're older.