Leeds table bid for Aaronson
Leeds United has moved to add attacking reinforcements at Elland Road before the conclusion of the January window after tabling a formal £15million bid for RB Salzburg’s American starlet Brenden Aaronson.
The 21-year-old United States international burst onto the scene in Major League Soccer after the New Jersey native and graduate of the vaunted Philadelphia Union academy set-up appeared 28-times for the Union 2019 when he was just nineteen before going on to even more impressive displays the following season.
Those appearances saw him pop up on the radar screens of a few clubs across Europe, with the youth production factory that is RB Salzburg eventually securing his services. Since in Austria, Aaronson has continued his rapid development and is a key ingredient at Red Bull Arena under young German manager Matthias Jaissle.
Exc: From @TheAthletic and @samstejskal – Leeds United have tabled a formal bid for RB Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson. Believed to be in the region of £15m. Salzburg valuation higher than that but Leeds persisting with their interest.
Story here:https://t.co/3stazNDs9H
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) January 18, 2022
As reported by The Athletic’s Leeds writer Phil Hay, Leeds did indeed table an official bid as mentioned previously but have at first been rebuffed by the Austrian Bundesliga outfit who are holding out for a larger fee despite Leeds continuing in their attempts to prise the player to Yorkshire.
Salzburg-Premier League supply line remains open
Brenden Aaronson would hardly be the first bright player to leave RB Salzburg for the Premier League in recent seasons, let alone defacto earn a move to one of Europe’s top leagues in general thanks to the developmental track that exists at the Austrian club.
Die Roten Bullen netted a combined £44million this summer alone when they sold both Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu to English-based sides Leicester City and Brighton irrespective of the eight other players they sold on.
Aston Villa’s English defender Matty Cash (L) vies with Liverpool’s Senegalese striker Sadio Mane during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Aston Villa at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 11, 2021. – – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
But the list does not stop there. Current Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan moved from Salzburg to RB Leipzig before eventually rocking up to the Molineux, while Liverpool trio Sadio Mané (Southampton from Salzburg) Naby Keïta (Leipzig from Salzburg), and Takumi Minamino (directly) all had successful spells at the club.
DORTMUND, GERMANY – DECEMBER 15: Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring their sides second goal during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and SpVgg Greuther Fürth at Signal Iduna Park on December 15, 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
The same could well be said regarding Erling Haaland, who continues to be linked with a move to the likes of Manchester City as his incredible time at Borussia Dortmund looks close completion; Europe, too, has Salzburg to credit for a portion of his development into one of the premier strikers anywhere in Europe.
Should Brenden Aaronson make the jump from Salzburg to Leeds, it is another success story of a club that continues to keep the supply lines open across the continent.
