United States prodigy Cavan Sullivan is set to fly to England this week to join Manchester City in their pre-season training camp.
Last year, Manchester City secured an agreement for the Philadelphia Union wonderkid to join the club in 2027, when he turns 18.
Fabrizio Romano reported earlier this week that Sullivan will be making his way to the UK this week so he can take his first steps at City.
However, former Union and United States forward Charlie Davies has now issued a word of warning regarding the handling of Sullivan’s formative steps.
Charlie Davies hopes it’s not a case of too much, too soon for Cavan Sullivan
This week, Davies spoke to CBS Sports podcast Call It What You Want about Sullivan, who will turn 16 in September.
Davies believes it’s currently a case of too much too soon, with Sullivan already getting first-team game time despite his very young age.
The 39-year-old spoke of how he played alongside Freddy Adu, who many were tipping for a huge career in the game as a young teenager.
“Yeah, this for me is conflicting,” Davies began.
“Because when you see some of the names that have played before him, or that were young, you know, Freddy Adu in 2004, he was my Under-20 teammate, Olympic teammate.
“He was 14. I remember I was at Boston College and they played the Revs. And I just remember thinking to myself, 14 years old, and you’re playing with the men.
“You know, you think about some of the best young talents in the world. It just takes a certain amount of time and maturity to be ready to play at that stage and not have this big drop off because of expectations.”
“Let’s be real. From a marketing standpoint, from a development standpoint, marketing, you’re playing a young kid who’s excelling, who’s maybe far advanced from the rest of the kids at his age.
“But to throw that kid at 14, 15, in some cases 16, into the deep end with the pros in official matches, I think is too soon. It is too soon.”
Former Manchester City forward Bradley Wright-Phillips and former Manchester United man Gary Neville discussed Sullivan on a May episode of It’s Called Soccer.
Freddy Adu – a cautionary tale
From before he even signed with DC United at the age of 14, Adu was spoken of as ‘the next Pele’ and appeared in an advert with the Brazilian legend (ESPN).
However, Adu never did reach the top of the game. He became a journeyman, playing for fifteen teams in nine countries.
He played in the United States, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Serbia, Finland, and Sweden.
The last club he played for was Swedish third-tier club Osterlen FF in 2021.
