In win-win deal, Aaronson headed to Red Bull Salzburg
Whether Brenden Aaronson meant to or not, he revealed plenty Friday by bringing up his mother.
Even on the most notable day yet of his career, the 19-year-old sealing a transfer to Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg for a record transfer fee, Aaronson winced when reminded that his parents might lament that the dream of him playing alongside brother Paxten for the Union next year won’t happen.
“My mom’s definitely going to get on me about that a little bit,” Brenden said with a laugh. “She has in the past. She’s been saying that a lot. She definitely wanted to have us on the same field together, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out like that. But I’m super excited for Paxten to get started.”
It says everything about what the Medford, N.J., native is about and how he’s arrived at this milestone. Salzburg signed the midfielder to a contract through June 2025, paying the Union an initial fee reported to be $6 million with bonuses and a portion of future sales that could raise it nearer to $10 million. It’s a record for an MLS Homegrown player from the U.S. Aaronson will wear No. 11 for Salzburg.
Aaronson will stay in Chester through the end of the MLS season, giving him five games plus the playoffs to chase a trophy. This, according to sporting director Ernst Tanner, was a priority, both for the good of the club and to allow Aaronson the entire spring to settle in before Salzburg dips into the European transfer market next summer. Despite the occasionally elegiac tone from others Friday, Aaronson still has more to do in Chester.
“I think it was my goal to finish out the season with the Union because of the amazing season the club has had so far and the things the club has done for me throughout the years, I think that it’s been an incredible ride,” he said. “I can’t thank the fans, the coaches, really everybody in this system, going from Union II to the Academy, it’s been an amazing ride and I can’t thank everyone that’s been a part of it enough. This dream wouldn’t have come true without them. I’m excited to end the season with the Union, and I think we have big aspirations.”
“Brenden wants to win a trophy at this club; it’s as simple as that,” Jim Curtin said. “He wants to leave the right way. There’s still work to be done. For a 19-year-old, his ability to focus and not get distracted when so many things are happening all around him is really, really impressive, and that’s a testament to his parents his mom and dad, who raised him the right way to always stay humble, to always be hungry and be self-aware and know where he fits into a team.”
Aaronson has blossomed into one of America’s most promising midfield talents. He signed a pre-contract agreement with the Union in 2018, then stepped into the lineup in 2019 and hasn’t left it. He scored three goals and two assists in his debut season, finishing runnerup in Rookie of the Year balloting. Tasked with upping his production in his sophomore campaign, he has four goals and five assists for the second-place Union.
Aaronson went from the periphery of the U.S. Under-19 picture to a full national team debut. He joined his first senior camp last fall and started a January friendly against Costa Rica. He would have figured prominently in the U-23 team’s drive to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics before COVID-19 intervened and could yet end up part of that team.
He’ll join a club with a track record of acquiring, developing and selling young talent, including Sadio Mane (with Liverpool after a stint at Southampton) and Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund). Before being hired by the Union in 2018, Tanner spent six years overseeing Salzburg’s academy. The 14-time Austrian Bundesliga champion is in the UEFA Champions League, drawn into Group A with reigning holders Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Lokomotiv Moscow. A top-two finish advances to the knockout stage, while finishing third would parachute them to Europa League, both starting in 2021.
Aaronson and his family were active in vetting Salzburg. In an all-around win for player and both clubs, he’s landed at a destination that works for his development and the finances of the club that reared him.
“Above all, we have always been very open in our communications with the father and the boy himself,” Tanner said. “It was expressly a wish from Brendan that they prefer Salzburg, and that has played a big role. We need to create an environment where the player could continue in his development.”
Aaronson has long been billed as the Union’s trailblazer, and he’s followed through on that promise. As Tanner and Curtin both said, he won’t be the last Union Homegrown bound for Europe, as recent star turns by Mark McKenzie and Anthony Fontana attest. But he’s the icebreaker, setting a high value for young, American talent and showing that the Union to be viable players in the international market.
Like much of the other pressure he willingly shoulders, Aaronson feels comfortable being the first through the breach.
“I think that being the first is awesome,” he said. “I think it gets a lot of looks and it’s great to be the first, but for sure I’m going to be one of many starting with the Union, and MLS too. I see all the talent that’s coming through and all the guys that are performing at such a high level. You see it on the field, scoring goals, playing amazing at the back with Mark and Font, and I think it’s only getting better now with the talent.”