After a wild season in Germany, Brenden Aaronson shifts focus to the USMNT and the Copa América

McLEAN, Va. — For just a moment, Brenden Aaronson gets to step off the soccer world’s perpetual roller coaster.

The 23-year-old from Medford can relax at the U.S. men’s soccer team’s hotel, a few weeks past the end of his club season with Germany’s Union Berlin and a few days before the Americans’ first game of the summer.

But it won’t be long until he’s back on the rides, even though he’s more of a Cape May type these days. The Copa América, the U.S. team’s biggest stage before cohosting the 2026 World Cup, is on the horizon, and he’s ready for it.

“I think that we’ve developed a ton under Gregg [Berhalter, the U.S. manager] as a group of individuals,” Aaronson said. “I think this is probably the best year of everybody playing, and playing at the top level, and having really great seasons for a lot of players. So I think now it’s about putting it together, and putting it into [the] Copa América, and then just going on a run and doing the best we can.”

Every U.S. game will be at an NFL stadium, with big crowds watching in prime time. The Americans’ two warmup games also will be big occasions, against South American powers they could face in the knockout rounds: Colombia on Saturday in Landover, Md. (5:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62, truTV, Max, Peacock), and Brazil on June 12 in Orlando. The Copa América starts June 20.

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie make the USMNT’s pre-Copa América camp roster

“These two games against Brazil and Colombia are going be big games for us to show that we can compete against the best,” Aaronson said. “We need that before we go into it to get some confidence.”

Aaronson likely won’t be a starter, not with Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, and other stars across the U.S. attack. He should have a big role to play off the bench, though, bringing his relentless energy and ability to break down defenses with hard runs and passing.

“I think Gregg sees me as an ‘inverted winger’ coming inside, because that’s always where my game’s been,” Aaronson said. “I’ve always been really good at finding space in between the lines and being able to drive with the ball, take people on, and play the final ball and score goals. When I’m at my best, that’s what I can do.”

Aaronson knows he’s been typecast by many fans and media as a high-pressing super-sub. He hopes this summer is an opportunity to show he has grown into more than that.

“Assisting and getting goals is my main priority, and being creative in those scenarios, and I think that that’s something that I’m continuing to get better and better at,” he said. “People look at the pressing and that side of things, but I think I can do a lot more than that.”

» READ MORE: Yunus Musah knows he could be the odd man out of the USMNT’s loaded midfield

That evolution came from playing a more central role in Berlin. He started the season in a deeper spot, as he had long ago with the Union — the Philadelphia Union, that is — then moved to an attacking role in the spring.

“The last part of the season went really well,” Aaronson said. “I felt like I was playing some of the best soccer I’ve played in a really long time. And it was really good, because the last 10 games I started and had a big role in helping the team get out of relegation.”

His focus on the end of the season isn’t just recency bias. Union started the season in the Champions League, with glamorous group-stage games against Spain’s Real Madrid and Italy’s Napoli, but it proved too much to handle. The club had a 16-game winless streak from September to November and was out of the Bundesliga’s top 10 from October to May.

Union fired two managers this year, and double-interim Marco Grote was in charge at the end. He liked Aaronson, and so did the man who started the season, Urs Fischer. But the next hire, Nenad Bjelica, didn’t rate Aaronson as highly in his tenure from late November to early May. Aaronson’s playing time dropped sharply during that span.

Between Leeds United and Berlin, Aaronson has played for seven managers in the last two years. That’s a lot for any player.

“But that’s football at the end of the day,” he said. “From the outside, it looks maybe easier than what it is, but it’s not. … It was crazy, but I think that it’s built my character a lot. I’ve become better mentally.”

» READ MORE: Andre Blake could miss the Copa América after surgery to clean up his knee injury

In the last two games of the season, Aaronson became soccer’s equivalent of a pitcher who leaves in the seventh inning with a lead, then watches the bullpen blow it.

Just when it seemed Union had shaken off its early-season woes, it tripped its way into a relegation fight. It needed one win to seal safety in the Bundesliga.

First came a road game at next-to-last-place Köln. Union led, 2-1, when Aaronson was subbed out early in the second half. Köln tied it in the 87th, then won it in the 93rd.

A week later, Union hosted eighth-place Freiburg in the season finale. Aaronson played the first 80 minutes, and assisted on the game’s opening goal. Five minutes after he left, Freiburg tied it.

Fortunately, this time Union found a winner — with one last wild twist. The Eisern won a 91st-minute penalty kick, Kevin Volland’s attempt was saved, and Janik Haberer crashed in the rebound. The ensuing swings in the standings made live-score apps look like the stock exchange.

» READ MORE: The U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team could have four players with Philly ties

Union will have another full-time boss this summer, and it’s unclear whether Aaronson will play for him. Aaronson’s season-long loan from England’s Leeds United has expired, and Leeds is about to spend another season in England’s second division after being relegated from the Premier League in Aaronson’s first campaign there.

On top of that, Leeds reportedly owes more than $240 million in deferred payments to other teams for player purchases in recent years. More than $94 million of that money is due by the end of June.

It’s not known whether Aaronson’s $30 million move from Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg in mid-2022 is part of that. But there’s no doubt Leeds should be able to make some money from selling Aaronson, and there’s a sense on both sides of the Atlantic that the club might not want him back anyway.

As of now, Aaronson isn’t thinking about his club future. He said he’s “all focused on the national team,” which makes sense to keep his head clear.

“It’s early,” he said. “I’m going to take my time with everything, and I’m just going to relax and enjoy my time here and focus on all the games against Colombia and Brazil and then going into the Copa América. So take it slow.”

» READ MORE: A look back at Brenden Aaronson's first goal for Leeds, one of his best highlights there

But he hinted that he wouldn’t mind going back to Union, even though the club probably can’t afford buying him. Union has spent more than $10 million on a purchase only once in its history, and that was last summer with Champions League cash on the way.

“They made it clear that they would like to have me back if it’s possible,” Aaronson said. “But at this moment, like I said, I’m just kind of being open-minded, taking it slow, and just enjoying life and enjoying being with the national team.”

If Aaronson goes elsewhere, he’ll take fond memories. Union has a fervent fan base that fills an unusual stadium, a 22,000-seat venue tucked into a forest southeast of downtown. And the club loved him back, praising him regularly on social media even amid the struggles.

“You could feel it throughout the stadium whenever I would touch the ball. … It was really nice to see, and it gave me a ton of confidence,” he said. “And I think that was a big reason why I played the way I did in the last 10 games. The love that I got from the coaches and the love that I got from the fans was awesome.”