The Curious Case of Brenden Aaronson
What the future has in store for the polarizing player
One of the biggest questions in the USMNT pool space surrounds the future of Brenden Aaronson. After bursting on to the scene with Red Bull Salzburg and a series of promising performances for Leeds United, Aaronson entered a serious rough patch in 2023. His drop in form saw him relegated to the Leeds bench – and subsequently relegated from the Premier League. His poor form followed him to Union Berlin, where he spent the rest of 2023 as a bench player. His fortunes began to change in the new calendar year, however, as he finally scored his first Bundesliga goal with a game winner against European challengers Hoffenheim and notched his second during a man-of-the-match performance against Werder Bremen. With the season entering its final stages, Brenden Aaronson’s future remains in limbo – both for club and country.
Many youth scouts will tell you that development isn’t linear, and Brenden Aaronson might be one of the best examples. In October of 2017, Brenden Aaronson was seemingly on his way out of Philadelphia after verbally committing his future to Indiana University in Bloomington. He had only been to one United States Youth National Team camp in September of 2015, where he failed to impress. Five years later, Aaronson was a starter in the English Premier League and a Senior International for the United States Men’s National Team. In those five years, Brenden worked his way up from the second division of American soccer to starting in both legs of a Round-of-16 fixture in the UEFA Champions League for perennial talent factory Red Bull Salzburg against German giants Bayern Munich. Given that he was still only 21-years-old when he signed for Leeds United, some believed he would continue to develop at the meteoric pace he had over the previous five years. That has not been the case. After an average-at-best World Cup performance, Aaronson appeared to have regressed at Leeds United, marking the start of a hellish calendar year for him.
As the 2023/24 Season comes to an end, the New Jersey native faces an uncertain future. His performances for Union Berlin have begun to improve, and it’s clear that both the club and its fanbase are extremely supportive of him, but he’s only there on a loan from Leeds United that expires on June 30th. The situation Aaronson can expect when he returns from his loan on July 1st is markedly different. He, along with other internationals like Spanish midfielder Marc Roca, Danish fullback Rasmus Kristensen, German center back Robin Koch, Austrian center back Maximilian Wöber, and fellow American midfielder Tyler Adams have been labeled as Personae Non Gratae by the Leeds faithful after their departures from the club in search of first-division football. This hatred is also compounded by Aaronson’s status as the poster child of the disastrous “Leeds United States” experiment, which saw Aaronson join fellow American Internationals Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie at Leeds under American manager Jesse Marsch. The spectacular failure of this project following Marsch’s sacking and the clubs relegation, along with the existing negative perceptions of Americans in English football, left Leeds fans with a disdain for anyone affiliated with US Soccer.
Leeds United have a difficult decision to make regarding Brenden Aaronson. It’s clear that they will not recover any of the €33 Million they paid for him and, even with the amortization of the fee across Aaronson’s Five-Year Contract with Leeds United, it’s doubtful that they will earn the requisite €20 Million needed to record a profit on him in their books. With a return to the Premier League virtually guaranteed for the club following an outstanding season in the Second Division of English Football, there could be a chance that Aaronson remains in West Yorkshire as a rotational piece for the 2024/25 Premier League Season. This may not be the best plan due to questions surrounding Brenden Aaronson’s ability to handle the physicality of the English game and how he might fit into manager Daniel Farke’s tactics. His National Team situation is not much better than his club situation. Although he was a part of the squad that won the 2024 CONCACAF Nations League, he was not initially part of the 23-Man squad. Competition for spots on the USMNT is fiercer than it has ever been – especially in his positions.
Brenden Aaronson needs to find a club situation where he can regain the form he had throughout from 2020 through 2022. Ideally, Leeds United and Union Berlin find a way to keep him in the German Capital for the 2024/25 Season, perhaps on another loan with an option to buy set at the €15 Million needed for Leeds to record a profit next summer. As previously mentioned, both the club and its fanbase have been supportive of Aaronson during the rougher spells of his loan, and he seems to be thriving in the deeper role he’s played in more recently. He’s also developed some chemistry with Yorbe Vertessen, a young Belgian forward signed from PSV Eindhoven in the Winter Transfer Window. Should he maintain this level, Union Berlin might find the eight-figure price tag to be a worthwhile expense as the club builds to compete for places once again in continental competitions. If an agreement can’t be reached between the two clubs, however, perhaps a move to a league like the Dutch Eredivisie, Portuguese Premeira Liga, or the Belgian Pro League might be the right environment for Aaronson. He should also work to become a full-time central midfielder, rather than a winger/forward. Goal involvements have never been a strong suit of Aaronson’s in any league he’s played in. He is best utilized as the engine of the team, using his pressing and aggression to win the ball deep before utilizing his technical ability and vision to carry the ball up the pitch and create chances for the forwards – a text book “Box-to-Box” midfielder. This move would not help his chances at being selected to the US Men’s National Team given that this position is where the national pool is deepest, but it would the best way to preserve his career at the highest levels of the game.
Still only 23-years-old, Brenden Aaronson’s career is far from over, but he is at a crossroads. Should he pick the right path, Aaronson could compete amongst the world’s best every week while remaining in contention to represent his country on the biggest stages in sport. Should he pick wrong, however, and his career at the highest levels could end as quickly as it began.