US teenage star attacking midfielder Freddy Adu has revealed his reason for not joining Manchester United, but to choose instead to move to Real Salt Lake from fellow MLS side DC United late last year.

17-year-old Adu, who recently arrived in Madrid with his new team – Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake - for pre-season training at the Real Madrid training facility, also stated his desire to one day play for the Spanish giants.

The attacking midfielder, who moved to Real Salt Lake from fellow MLS side DC United in December, gave his reason for refusing a move to Old Trafford.

Adu impressed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson during his two-week trial at United last year, but the teenager - touted by many to become an international superstar - refused the move to the Premiership.

Despite not having played in the MLS for his new team, the Ghanaian-born starlet revealed he immediately knew that he would turn down Manchester United’s bid and that he wanted the move to Real Salt Lake right from the beginning.

“I couldn't be happier [at Real Salt Lake],” said Adu to realmadrid.com. “Not a lot of people know this, but it was something I wanted.

“I tried out with Manchester United for two weeks and then made the decision to join a team where I could play in my natural position.

"I'm an attacking midfielder and I knew this team was going to give me an opportunity to play in that position.”

After arriving in Madrid, Adu repeated his desire for a move to Spain one day.

“My desire to come here still stands,” said Adu, then joked: “Look at the situation I’m in. I play for ‘Real’ Salt Lake now, so you never know, right?”

Real Salt Lake are due to play a Madrid Select XI in a friendly while in pre-training in Spain and Adu is hoping he can impress enough to be offered his dream move to La Primera Liga.

“Maybe one day, Real Madrid's going to come knocking. We’ll see what happens.”

"I'm definitely looking forward to it," said Adu about the friendly against Real Madrid. "It's always a challenge to play against any Real Madrid team.

“I’m young and I know most of those guys are going to be young too. I would like to compare where I stand to most of them because they play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. It will be a fun experience.”

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