'Best spell of his career!' - USMNT star Brenden Aaronson told he's finally cracked the Premier League ahead of huge transfer decision at Leeds

Aaronson arrived in English football ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, with a £25 million ($34m) move from Red Bull Salzburg being completed. There were high hopes for him at that stage, but a disappointing debut campaign with Leeds delivered just one goal and relegation into the Championship.

The talented playmaker jumped ship at that point, as he headed to Germany for a loan spell at Union Berlin, but rejoined the Whites in the second tier for the 2024-25 season. He found the target on nine occasions as title glory and promotion was savoured.

Questions have continued to be asked of the New Jersey native since then, but he has enjoyed a personal purple patch of late - registering three goals across back-to-back appearances against Manchester United and Newcastle.

He is playing with freedom again, and a smile on his face, but Friedel insists that the 25-year-old is not a confidence player. The former USMNT goalkeeper - speaking with Casino.org, who help players find Underdog promo codes - told GOAL when asked if Aaronson needs to feel loved: “No, he’s a pretty individual guy. He’s a confident guy. I think performing in the Premier League is hard. I think he just needed to find his way. His confidence may have been dented a little bit, internally, like ‘these guys are big, these guys are fast, they are strong, do I belong here?’ But he has, as you can see, a little bit of… swagger is the wrong word because he’s not an arrogant kid, he’s a really good kid. He just has a bit about him. 

“He works through it. Went on loan and came back, and he’s really battled through it. He has figured out how to play in the Premier League, that’s for sure. I don’t think this is just his best spell at Leeds, I think this is his best spell in his career, ever. He’s done it at a pretty good time with the World Cup coming up!”

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Aaronson is also seeing his stock rise ahead of another transfer window in the summer. Some eye-catching displays for the United States at a home World Cup would attract plenty of attention.

Leeds may be forced to listen to offers if no extension to the midfielder’s terms can be agreed, with there little value to be found in allowing him to run down a deal towards free agency.

Friedel added when asked if some big future calls are fast approaching: “Without a doubt. Normally if you have a player playing like him, you wouldn’t want a player that like getting to less than 18/24 months of his contract. But if you are the player and the agent, you might want to see how the World Cup goes and how you do there. 

“A lot of clubs don’t actually sign players based off of World Cups anymore. They used to quite often, but that can be a dangerous thing to do because sometimes players can catch fire for four to eight games and really look a different player to what they actually are over a nine-month season. 

“For him, I’m really pleased with how well he is doing. I think he got a standing ovation the other day from the Leeds fans, who can be a glass-half-empty bunch, so that’s good!”

Aaronson has been able to turn jeers into cheers, but the challenge now is to maintain those standards and help Leeds to pull away from relegation danger. He has already taken that tumble once and will want to prove that both he and the Whites are deserving of long-term futures among the Premier League elite.