Report: Red Bull Salzburg make move for Brenden Aaronson

Brenden Aaronson could be the next American headed abroad. According to Tom Bogert of MLSsoccer.com, Red Bull Salzburg has agreed to a transfer deal for the 19-year-old Philadelphia Union midfielder. While the deal is not completely done, according to Bogert, the agreement would see Aaronson stay with the Union until the end of the 2020 season before heading to Austria.

Aaronson has emerged as one of the bright young stars on a Union team that is one of the best teams in the league this season. He has 6 goals and 5 assists in 40 career league starts for Philadelphia, a career that began with an amateur contract with the Bethlehem Steel (now Philadelphia Union II). That rise through the ranks and his star quality earned him a couple call ups to the United States Men’s National Team. He was on the roster for Concacaf Nations League matches last October against Cuba and Canada, but did not see playing time. He was then brought in for this year’s January Camp and started for the USMNT in a 1-0 victory against Costa Rica.

Heading to Red Bull Salzburg will mean he gets to work with coach Jesse Marsch, who coached the New York Red Bulls before heading to Europe in 2018, first as an assistant for RB Leipzig and now as the head coach for Salzburg. Red Bull Salzburg has won the Austrian Football Bundesliga the past 7 seasons and 11 of the past 14. Aaronson will expect to be able to play in European competition for Die Mozartstädter, and Marsch has been great at developing young players everywhere he goes. Red Bull Salzburg has been used by several players as a stepping stone to a big European club, most recently Erling Haaland.

We will see if details begin to emerge about the deal being finalized, but Union fans may be in the final weeks of watching Brenden Aaronson wear their jersey in competition.