Tyler Adams is heading to the Premier League, where he’ll reunite with Jesse Marsch after Leeds United completed a transfer widely reported to be worth £20 million ($24m) to bring him to England from RB Leipzig.
Adams, a U.S. men’s national team fixture, moves to Leeds just as their first-choice defensive midfielder over the past few seasons, Kalvin Phillips, moves to Manchester City. It is expected that Marsch, has worked with Adams at both the New York Red Bulls and at RB Leipzig, will install Adams at the base of his midfield in the coming Premier League season.
They’ll be joined by another familiar face from the MLS and Red Bull worlds, as Leeds acquired USMNT youngster Brenden Aaronson from Red Bull Salzburg just over a month ago.
While Adams made 37 appearances across all competitions in each of the last two Leipzig seasons, by the end of this past season it appeared that head coach Domenico Tedesco preferred players like Kevin Kampl and Konrad Laimer as his starters. In the club’s final 15 Bundesliga games this year, Adams made 10 appearances, and only three of those were starts.
However, a move to Leeds points at better days ahead. While Adams will be swapping a club with Champions League expectations for one that avoided relegation by an extremely slim margin, he has extensive experience playing for Marsch, and his experience in continental competition will be a big positive in the high-pressure environment that is playing for a club with the kind of fervent support that Leeds has.
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