It was a good afternoon for the USMNT attacker, but it could have been great
Brenden Aaronson returned to Leeds with a bang on Saturday — but the U.S international missed the chance to make it a truly special afternoon at Elland Road.
Aaronson scored a stoppage-time equalizer for Leeds against Portsmouth, netting in the 95th minute after coming on in the second half of his side’s Championship opener.
But just two minutes later, Aaronson missed the chance to complete his brace and seal a Leeds win by firing wide when in alone on goal.
Aaronson is back at Leeds after spending last season on loan with Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
The 23-year-old had a difficult debut campaign at Elland Road in 2022-23, fading in the second half of the season as the club was relegated from the Premier League.
On Saturday, it looked like Leeds would suffer a demoralizing home loss to kick off the season after Callum Lang’s 93rd-minute penalty put Portsmouth ahead.
But Aaronson responded minutes later, carving out space for himself inside the box before firing home into the bottom corner.
Watch Aaronson’s goal vs. Portsmouth
93’ Callum Lang puts Portsmouth ahead 3-2 from the spot 🎯
95’ Brenden Aaronson equalizes for Leeds United 🤯🇺🇸
The 23-year-old will return to Leeds facing an uncertain future
Brenden Aaronson’s time with Union Berlin has come to an end.
The German side announced on Monday that Aaronson is returning to Leeds, following the conclusion of his season-long loan.
Aaronson’s final appearance for Union Berlin came on Saturday, as he notched a vital assist in a 2-1 win over Freiburg that confirmed the club’s Bundesliga status on the season’s final day.
The U.S. national team attacker had a difficult spell with Die Eisernen, particularly in the first half of the season when he didn’t record a single goal contribution.
Aaronson was improved in the back end of the campaign, starting more frequently down the stretch and ending the season with two goals and two assists.
In a club statement, Union Berlin said Aaronson won “the hearts of Union fans with his dashing style of play, his speed and, not to forget, his decisive goal against Hoffenheim.
“After 38 appearances, two goals and two assists, his time in Berlin has come to an end and he is returning to England.”
The 23-year-old said last month that he would be open to a permanent move to Union Berlin, but that was always going to be a difficult financial commitment for the German club to make.
Aaronson returns to Leeds facing an uncertain future. The club is in the Championship playoff final this weekend but regardless of the outcome, the USMNT attacker may not be in the team’s plans.
Football Insider reported last week that Leeds has decided to sell Aaronson in the summer, and will look to recoup £12 million of its initial £25m investment in the New Jersey native.
A spot in the playoff final is on the line at Elland Road
Leeds and Norwich City will face off at Elland Road on Thursday in the second leg of their Championship playoff semifinal.
The two teams played out a scoreless draw over the weekend at Carrow Road, so it’s all to play for in leg two at Leeds’ home ground.
Leeds, which finished third in the table, will fancy its chances against the sixth-place Canaries, who will look to pose a threat on the counter in the return leg.
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Norwich will be sweating on the fitness of star forward Josh Sargent, who suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury in Sunday’s first leg and will be questionable for the second leg.
Leeds is aiming to bounce straight back to the Premier League after last season’s relegation, while Norwich is looking to return after its relegation in 2021-22.
The winner of this tie will face either Southampton or West Brom on May 26 at Wembley with a spot in the Premier League on the line.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.
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The 23-year-old’s loan from Leeds expires at the end of the season
Brenden Aaronson has said he could see himself staying at Union Berlin for the long term.
The U.S. national team attacker is currently on a season-long loan from Leeds, with his future at the end of the season unclear.
Aaronson played just one season at Leeds before moving to Germany on loan, following the club’s relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.
The 23-year-old has struggled to find minutes for much of the season at Union, but has recently started to find his footing. Aaronson has started three straight matches and has scored two goals in the past seven, following a period of a year and a half without a club goal.
As his loan winds down to its final two months, Aaronson told Get German Football News that he is open staying at Union.
“I can see myself remaining here,” Aaronson said.
“The club is amazing. it’s not up to me at the end of the day but I have so much respect for Union, the way it has been built, the staff, it’s an amazing family club and they’ve done an amazing job.
“For me, it’s (about) making the right decision in the summer, evaluating the year and going from there. Staying is an option but I can’t say much more.”
Aaronson said he’s also been keeping a close eye on his parent club, which is in third place in the Championship as it eyes an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.
“I’ve been paying close attention to Leeds, I know a lot of the guys, I get on with a lot of them, they are good guys,” he added.
“I’ve been paying attention because they’ve been having a fantastic season so it’s been great to watch.
“They just need to keep pushing because they’ve got good things coming their way at the end of the season.”
“One of my coaches, honestly I don’t think he even knew who I was”
Weston McKennie pointed to a host of factors to explain his disappointing loan spell at Leeds last season, including a lack of fitness, playing for three different coaches, and playing out of position.
McKennie joined Leeds in January on a six-month loan from Juventus. He was expected to help solidify the team’s midfield and contribute to securing its Premier League status.
But things went south quickly for the U.S. national team midfielder, who increasingly came in for criticism during a period that eventually saw the club relegated.
Now back at Juventus, McKennie appeared on Tim Ream’s The American Dream podcast and reflected on his time at Leeds. The first issue, per McKennie, was due to coming from Juventus, a club that often plays multiple games per week due to European and cup commitments.
Arriving at Leeds, the midfielder joined a team that was only playing in the Premier League after its FA Cup elimination in February.
“Honestly, I don’t think my physical fitness was the best because I was so used to being at Juventus and playing every three days,” McKennie explained.
“Game fitness is way different than training fitness for me,” he continued. “I become game fit by playing games. I can’t really replicate game fitness at training. You can try, you can do as much as you can to make it feel like a game, but I can’t do that playing one game a week. … I didn’t feel like I was in the best physical shape in terms of being able to last maybe a 90 minute game.”
Another problem according to McKennie was the fact he came to Leeds to play under fellow American Jesse Marsch, who was promptly sacked shortly after his arrival.
“I didn’t help that when I got there, I went there because of Jesse Marsch. And then two weeks after I got there he was sacked,” McKennie said. “I had four different managers in six months.”
(Photo by Harriet Lander/Getty Images)
He added: “One of my coaches, honestly I don’t think he even knew who I was. If a player is coming in on loan, you should know your squad. He put me outside the box for corner kicks. And in my head I’m like, ‘I’ve scored like 85% of my goals in my career off set pieces and crosses.'”
Finally, McKennie pointed to a March injury to his USMNT teammate Tyler Adams, which forced him to play deeper than he typically prefers.
“And then Tyler got injured, so it forced me to play the six role. I don’t see myself as a six, because I like to attack and defend and if you’re telling me like, ‘Just stay here, don’t go in the box,’ I’m not the best with that because I need to be free to exert my energy. So I think it just didn’t pan out the way I thought.”
McKennie would add that he didn’t regret the move, calling it a learning experience and complimenting the staff, players and fans at Leeds. The midfielder did admit, though, that the passion of the Leeds fans can cut both ways.
“They’re very vocal, but that can go either way,” he said. “They can be vocal for you or against you. And towards the end, it was very much against me.”
Adams is heading back to the Premier League after one season with Leeds
Tyler Adams is heading back to the Premier League.
The midfielder has completed a transfer to Bournemouth, joining from Leeds in a move worth a reported £20 million ($25.4m).
Adams has signed a five-year contract and will wear the No. 18 with the Cherries.
Adams impressed in just one season with Leeds, though the club was relegated at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. The 24-year-old missed the last two months of the season with a hamstring injury that is still set to keep him out until after the September international break.
Bournemouth’s chief executive, Neill Blake, said: “We’re thrilled to have brought Tyler to the club and he is a player we’ve admired for a long time. It’s been widely documented how much his talents have been recognized in this transfer window by other clubs, so to have him sign for AFC Bournemouth shows the ambition we have as a club.
“Tyler is an exciting player who possesses plenty of experience for someone that is just 24 years of age and we’re looking forward to working with him as he’s a player we know will be a great addition to our squad.”
Adams very nearly joined Chelsea just a week prior to his move to Bournemouth, but his transfer fell through at the last minute as the Blues ultimately signed Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia in central midfield instead.
The transfer would see the U.S. men’s national team captain stay in the Premier League following Leeds’ relegation last season.
At a news conference on Friday, Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was careful not to confirm a deal was done, but strongly hinted that it was nearing completion.
“Right now he’s not our player so we have to wait,” Iraola said. “You know the club is working towards signing someone in midfield but we have to wait until everything is complete.”
Iraola added: “He’s a really good player. He has performed in the Champions League, [has] national team experience, but I don’t want to go too far because right now he’s not our player.”
Should Adams join this month, he wouldn’t be able to debut for the Cherries for at least a couple weeks. Leeds head coach Daniel Farke said last month an ongoing hamstring injury would keep the midfielder out until after the September international break.
The move would also mean the last of a formerly robust quantity of Americans has left Leeds. At one point last season there were five at the club: head coach Jesse Marsch, assistant Chris Armas, as well as Adams, Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie on the playing side.
Marsch and Armas were let go midway through last season, while Aaronson has gone on loan to Union Berlin and McKennie has returned to Juventus after being on loan at Elland Road last season.
But the following day, Sky Sports News reported that the deal was off at the last minute, with otheroutlets subsequently confirming the news.
The 24-year-old had already traveled to London and completed a medical but by Friday afternoon, he was on his way back to Leeds.
The issue, it seems, stems from the seemingly never-ending saga of Brighton’s Moisés Caicedo, who has been involved in a tug-of-war between Chelsea and Liverpool for his signature.
Liverpool looked to have won the race, with manager Jurgen Klopp even confirming on Friday that an agreement between the two clubs had been reached for the Ecuador midfielder.
Typically if a manager is ready to publicly confirm that a deal has been struck, that’s just about the end of the story. But this soap opera appears to have a few more twists — and Adams looks like he’ll be collateral damage.
The Guardian said that even after Liverpool saw a $140 million offer accepted by Brighton, Chelsea was still trying to hijack the move at the last minute by bidding even more. That, in turn, has seen the Blues turn their focus away from Adams.
Where that leaves the USMNT captain now is unclear.
Adams has been subject to plenty of Premier League interest following Leeds’ relegation last season, and he still has almost three weeks to find a new club before the transfer window closes.
If Adams does find a transfer, he’ll join his new club not fully fit. Sidelined since March with a hamstring injury, Leeds head coach Daniel Farke said last month he didn’t expect the midfielder back until after the September international break.
The USMNT midfielder looks set to be out at least another two months
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke has said he expects Tyler Adams to be sidelined through September’s international break due to a hamstring injury.
Adams did not feature for Leeds in the final two months of the Premier League season after he underwent hamstring surgery in March.
Leeds was already struggling, but losing Adams was a huge blow as the club was ultimately relegated to the Championship.
Adams also missed out on U.S. national team duty this summer, as the team still managed to easily win the CONCACAF Nations League without its captain.
Speaking to the media on Saturday after his side lost to Monaco in a preseason friendly, Farke said he expected the USMNT captain, along with winger Jack Harrison, to be out through mid-September.
“Jack Harrison and Tyler Adams are still on their way back because they are still doing their rehab so they will definitely miss the start of the season and they will definitely miss also [the] next weeks,” said Farke. “It will last a few weeks, it’s a bit too early to judge.
“I expect them perhaps to be back after the first international break, but it will last a while so they have to work on the rehab. Jack Harrison and Tyler Adams, top-class players, top characters, are so important for us. It’s not easy for us to start without them, but that’s reality.”
The USMNT will host Uzbekistan on September 9 before taking on Oman three days later in September’s FIFA window. Should Adams return after those matches, he would have missed six months of action.
The injury could also impact Adams’ transfer future. The 24-year-old has been linked with several Premier League teams recently, including Aston Villa and Brighton.
The Los Angeles Clippers guard joins golf stars Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas
NBA star Russell Westbrook is the latest member of an increasingly star-studded Leeds United ownership group.
Just days after Jordan Spieth confirmed that he and fellow pro golfer Justin Thomas are now involved with the Championship club, Westbrook announced that he was following suit.
“So I was lucky enough to talk through that with friends, talking with my business partner as well about different things and having conversations, figuring out if this was the right deal and how we could make it different.”
Following relegation from the Premier League last season, Leeds was taken over by 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
Westbrook, 34, is a nine-time NBA All-Star and currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers — the fifth team of his career.
