Brenden Russell Aaronson (born October 22, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or winger for club

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and the United States national team. In May 2022, Aaronson moved to Leeds from Red Bull Salzburg in a transfer worth $30.2 million ( £24.7 million), making him the second most expensive American soccer player of all time.

Early life

Raised in

Medford, New Jersey Medford is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 ...

, Aaronson attended Shawnee High School for a single year before being selected to the Philadelphia Union's YSC Academy, where he played soccer and completed his high school education. During his time at YSC Academy, Aaronson had played for Union's youth teams before committing to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and signing an amateur contract with

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. T ...

Club career

Bethlehem Steel

Aaronson appeared as an academy player playing for

during their 2017 season after coming through the Philadelphia Union academy. In October 2017, Aaronson made his first start for Steel FC in an away draw versus

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. Aaronson made 21 appearances for Steel FC and scored his first goal for the professional side against

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional ...

Philadelphia Union

On September 17, 2018, it was announced that Aaronson would join the Philadelphia Union at the beginning of their 2019 season. On March 17, 2019, the homegrown player scored his first professional goal in his MLS debut, helping Philadelphia tie against

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

. Considered to be a back-up playmaker for the Union, injuries and suspensions gave Aaronson the opportunity to start and excel in the first team as both playmaking number 10 and left-sided box-to-box midfielder. At the end of his rookie season, Aaronson finished second for 2019 MLS Rookie of the year, with three goals and two assists in over 1,640 minutes played. Aaronson was the youngest player out of the five finalists. The 2020 season became a breakout year for Aaronson who finished the season with 31 appearances across all competitions and scoring 4 goals. Aaronson's performance during the season earned him several accolades include being named to the 2020

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

for the regular season and the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

. The Union finished the season with the best league record earning the team's first trophy, the 2020 Supporters' Shield.

Red Bull Salzburg

After persistent rumors, it was announced on October 16, 2020, that Aaronson would join Red Bull Salzburg effective January 2021 after the MLS season ended. While the transfer fee was undisclosed, Philadelphia announced that it would be the highest transfer fee paid for an American homegrown player from MLS. Early news reports indicated the fee is US$6 million up front, with US$3 million in possible incentives. Aaronson made his debut for Salzburg on January 25, as a substitute during a 2–0 victory over Rheindorf Altach. Aaronson scored his first goal for Salzburg on February 10, 2021, scoring the game-winning goal during an eventual 3–1 win over Austria Wien. On May 1, he won his first piece of silverware with Salzburg as the club defeated

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Footbal ...

in the Austrian Cup final by 3–0. Aaronson scored the second goal of the match, and his fifth in all competitions since his move from Philadelphia in January.

Leeds United

On May 26, 2022,

announced the signing of Aaronson on a five-year contract, beginning on July 1.

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

reported the transfer fee to be £24.7 million. He made his senior league debut for Leeds as part of the starting eleven in their season opener on August 6, with a 2–1 home win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. On August 21, Aaronson scored his first Premier League goal after forcing an error from Chelsea goalkeeper

Édouard Mendy Édouard Osoque Mendy (born 1 March 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Chelsea and the Senegal national team. Starting his career in his native France, Mendy played in the Le Havre academy before ...

in a 3–0 home win over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, helping Leeds secure their first victory over the Blues for 20 years.

International career

After showing a strong rookie season, Aaronson received his first senior call-up to the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

in October 2019 for

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

matches with

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He did not earn a cap in either match. Aaronson earned his second call-up to the senior team for the 2020 January camp. Aaronson earned his full debut in a 1–0 win over Costa Rica. Later that year, Aaronson scored his first senior international goal during a 6–0 victory over El Salvador in December 2020. Aaronson was included in the 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, playing in all three group games.

Personal life

His brother Paxten Aaronson plays for

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. Aaronson's performances for the Philadelphia Union and Red Bull Salzburg earned him the nickname of the “Medford Messi”, an

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

that refers to his birthplace and makes a comparison with Argentine player

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played March 24, 2023. United States score listed first, score column indicates score after each Aaronson goal.''

Honors

Philadelphia Union * Supporters' Shield:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Red Bull Salzburg * Austrian Bundesliga:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 * Austrian Cup:

, 2021–22 United States *

: 2019–20 Individual *

Best XI:

References

External links

*
Brenden Aaronson
at Philadelphia Union
Brenden Aaronson
at Major League Soccer
Brenden Aaronson
at

US Soccer The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronson, Brenden 2000 births Living people American men's soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Philadelphia Union II players Philadelphia Union players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Leeds United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders People from Medford, New Jersey Shawnee High School (New Jersey) alumni Soccer players from New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Premier League players United States men's international soccer players 2022 FIFA World Cup players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Austria American expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England United States men's under-23 international soccer players