11 fun facts about Brenden Aaronson

Aaronson was born to parents, Rusty Aaronson and Jannell Aaronson. He was born and grew up in Medford, New Jersey, and spent one year at Shawnee High School before being chosen to join the YSC Academy of the Philadelphia Union. At the academy, he played soccer and finished his high school studies.

Aaronson has a younger brother Paxten who is also a professional footballer as well. Paxten, just like his brother, started off in the Philadelphia Union's youth setup where he made his mark on MLS before making a move to Europe.

Paxten joined Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2023 and currently plays in the Bundesliga with Die Adler.

Aaronson's father, Randy, was also a footballer, although he only reached a semi-professional level in his youth due to a lack of opportunities in the United States.

Once Randy was certain his sons wanted to pursue football, he made it his goal to give them the best possible training and nurturing through their youth. Randy also trained the boys on their off days by taking them to Bob Bende Park.

In 2020, Brenden reached a crossroads where he had two options regarding his career, leave home for Red Bull Salzburg in Austria or stay in MLS and be close to his family. The winger had hesitated to leave his family, especially his mother, considering the COVID-19 pandemic had wrecked the world. This also would've made it difficult for his family to visit or travel along with him to Austria.

However, his mother convinced him that this was his opportunity to make a mark on the footballing world, something that he couldn't have done staying in his comfort. Brenden often credits his recent success to his mother having been strong enough to 'let him become his own man'.

We've already talked about Brendan's brother, Paxten but he also has a sister who is currently playing youth soccer at Shawnee High School. She has often referred to Brendan as her biggest inspiration alongside her father.

Paxten also looks up to his elder brother and has often talked about how he has helped him through difficult periods of his football career.

In 2020, when Aaronson made his move to Red Bull Salzburg for an 'undisclosed' fee, Philadelphia Union announced the move had broken an MLS record for an outbound transfer for a homegrown player. Later, it was revealed it was €9 million, confirmed to be a record.

Brenden Aaronson's impressive performances in the 2020 season earned him the MLS Young Player of the Year award. He helped Philadelphia Union to the top of the Eastern Conference and the Supporters' Shield ranking.

In 2020, alongside being named Best Young Player in MLS, Aaronson was also named in the MLS Best XI. He is the third youngest player to have been named for the same, only behind Sergino Dest and Alphonso Davies.

Hailing from Medford, Aaronson was nicknamed 'Medford Messi' growing up. Aaronson's game is said to have a lot of resemblance to that of Lionel Messi's game. The playmaker has a very similar dribbling style to the Argentina captain which earned him the nickname.

After an impressive performance in his debut season, Aaronson was selected to join the United States men's national soccer team in October 2019 for CONCACAF Nations League matches against Cuba and Canada. However, he did not get the opportunity to play in either of those matches. In January 2020, he received his second call-up to the senior team for the 2020 January camp.

During the camp, Aaronson made his first appearance as a full team member in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica. Later in the same year, in December 2020, he scored his first goal for the senior international team in a 6-0 win against El Salvador. Aaronson's performances earned him a spot in the 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all three group-stage matches.

Aaronson joined Leeds from Red Bull Salzburg in a $30 million transfer. Aaronson's move became the second most expensive transfer for an American player, with Christian Pulisic's $73 million move from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea in 2019 holding the top spot.