Brenden Aaronson at Union Berlin (olf Leeds)

Hate to quibble with Taylor's math there but that sounds like $8 million to me (assuming there aren't any other near-guaranteed bonuses he's leaving out).

 

I doubt he was a math major at Maryland.

 

Technically, he's right. $8M is closer to a $9M deal than a $6M deal.

 

Kid looks exhausted

 

Have to think Salzburg will spend the winter just integrating him into the team, letting him get acclimated to Austria and giving him a chance to rest. Would be pretty surprising if he saw meaningful minutes in the first month or two. Right?

 

Touché.

 

#LFC and #AFC target

Szoboszlai set to join #RBLeipzig for fee below market value - 18th signing from Salzburg

Text by @dan_bu for @Transfermarkt https://t.co/aagffxcbII

— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) November 11, 2020

sink or swim right out of the gate, dang

 

Aaronson had the 9th best selling MLS jersey (for players based at American clubs) in 2019, and the only American player higher than him was Jordan Morris. That's pretty surprising - I would guess that Philadelphia's sustained success this year has caught some (at least a little) local attention.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/11/13/25-top-selling-mls-jerseys-2020

The other Americans at US-based clubs on the list: Bedoya, Wondolowski, Zimmerman, and Roldan.

 

Philadelphia's season ends in a loss to New England. Imagine Brenden sticks around for the December USMNT camp and then off to Salzburg afterwards.

 

Doubt it. He will head straight away to Salzburg to get acclimated.

 

Treasonous, but sensible.

 

aaronson got bullied a bit in this one. hopefully this weighs on him for a long time and serves as some real motivational fuel.

 

Shock, pain, rage for Philadelphia Union
as dream season ends with a thud​

 

When is he set to arrive at Salzburg? Jan 1st?

 

Presumably yes. So he’ll have 3 weeks off before heading over. Salzburg’s first game after winter break is 1/23, so there’s some time to integrate a little.

Looking at their schedule, they immediately come back to fixture congestion, even before Europa league, so hopefully Aaronson gets PT right away.

 

Hopefully they sell Szobozslai in January.

 

Is anyone super high on the kid? Have seen 3/4 games of his and I feel like he does a lot of things at a B/B+ level but nothing that really stands out. Good motor, decent vision, passing, technique. Is he like a slightly better young Bedoya? I could see him having kind of the career arch, Salzburg being the peak of his career.

 

1. Being at a B/B+ level at everything at his age means there's a real chance that in his prime he'll be at B+/A-/A level at everything, which is great.
2. I think his vision is outstanding for his age, borderline elite. The thing is, in terms of his development, that's a double edged sword; that's one of a small handful of qualities you would most expect to improve with age. He's already pretty much there.

 

Brenden Aaronson has a strong chance to start for Salzburg upon arrival. https://t.co/ehBR9b58ey

— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) December 16, 2020

 

Getting some good Europa league run will be huge for him.
Win the league and play well.
But let’s be honest, outside of LASK, he will be facing equal or worse competition compared to MLS. So I don’t anticipate league play to be a huge transition

 

2 players on Salzburg got doping allegations, including midfielder Mohamed Camara. Perhaps this opens some minutes?

 

Any word yet on what the punishment is for that?

 

Interview:

https://www.redbullsalzburg.at/en/f...ws/saison_2020_21/a-lot-of-creative-work.html

 

I love the first answer, "jesse picked me up." - Like, the manager of a CL club just casually picking you up from the airport.

 

Really hope this kid works out. Jesse seems to be pulling all the stops for him...