The Washington Post has reported that, Freddy Adu, a freshman student at a Maryland school near Washington, is considered such a talent that the Italian club want to sign him for their youth academy.

"We have never done this before - Freddy is the first American that we have ever seen with potential as a pro in European soccer," Inter Milan's general secretary of youth soccer, Piero Ausilio is quoted as saying.

Offer rejected

The paper says that last spring, Milan officials offered Adu's family a five-year $250,000 develoment plan for the boy.

But the offer was rejected by Adu's mother who was concerned about her son's education and was not prepared to rush him into such a deal.

However, Ausilio said his club were still interested in the ex-pat Ghanaian who he considered to have a promising future.

Adu was recruited in 1998 by the US Olympic Development Program and took part in the elite US soccer Federation camps to identify top youth prospects.

In 1999 and 2000 he played in tournaments in Italy with a US regional select team that competed against the youth development teams from top Italian clubs.

He became the highest scorer and Most Valuable Player on both occasions.

It was after the second tournament that Inter dispatched one if its US-based representatives, Matt Driver, to make an offer to the youngster.

This summer, Adu lead his Washington community team, the Cougars, to the Under-14 National Championship title.

He is not able to play for the US however until he becomes a US citizen, which he hopes to pursue next year when he will be eligible.

Adu and his family moved to the United States from Ghana in 1998 after winning the Visa lottery.