Leeds United: Brenden Aaronson to return to Leeds
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00:00Hello and welcome back to the Marching On Together Leeds United podcast. My name is
00:04Daniel and I am joined as ever by the Yorkshire Evening Post's Lee Sobert. Lee, how are you
00:09doing?
00:10Very well, thank you. Yeah, looking forward to a summer break, as I think we all are to
00:15a certain extent. And yeah, we shall see what happens on that summer break. Well, we allege
00:21summer doesn't feel like a summer at the moment here, does it? That's for sure.
00:26No, it's dismal weather. It hasn't been warm, it's been windy, it's been cloudy, it's been
00:31cold. It's a great way to start a podcast, but you know, it is the truth.
00:36Yeah, and we shall see what happens while we're away these next weeks in both, well,
00:41obviously Leeds United front and England as well.
00:44Indeed, yes, we'll come on to that a bit later on. We'll start with Leeds United. Now, the
00:50big one this week is about Brendan Aronson, who of course hasn't been at Leeds all season,
00:56been away on loan at Union Berlin. But he's set to come back to the club for next season,
01:03which is a bit of a turn up for the books given Daniel Tharker's comments a little while
01:06ago about the players who left on loan after the relegation at the end of the season prior
01:10to this one. So, Lee, what's your take on that? Do you think it's a good move from the
01:15club? That's one of his nature, of his stature, is coming back, given the fact that he left
01:22straight away after the club was relegated?
01:25Well, I think there's various ways to look at this. And I've got to say, A, it was a
01:29big surprise when the news broke this week. Graham Smith broke that to everybody on the
01:33YEP, which was good to see. And I think, yeah, A, it was big news and B, it really did seem
01:39to sort of polarise opinion amongst fans. It almost felt like it was 50-50 on this,
01:43in terms of plenty of fans saying, we don't want him back. Once he sort of turned you
01:47back on the club, it kind of like scarpered off in terms of the loan exit, relegation,
01:51release clause. He wasn't the only one. There were several of them, obviously. Then you
01:54don't come back. But then also plenty of people sort of seeing the side of it, well, you might
01:57come back and actually do a decent job. And I kind of lean towards a little bit towards
02:01the latter in terms of the fact that I think and I hope this will probably end up being
02:05a good move. One of the first things I would say about this is that you can look at what
02:10Brendan Aronson did or didn't do in his first season at Leeds when he signed at the club.
02:15ÂŁ25 million as well, we're talking here. So, this is not like a sort of like, this
02:18is a big purchase player, really, who's up there in terms of the most expensive buys
02:22in Leeds' history. And you can look at what he did in the first season in the Premier
02:26League when they got relegated. I remember a few games at the start of that season where
02:29actually he did do quite well. And a lot of fans were really starting to take to him and
02:33sort of think, well, his nickname is the Medford Messi, isn't it? And stuff in terms of his
02:37background. So, whether it quite ends up being that, I don't know. But obviously, it was
02:41a terrible season for Leeds, for him and for the club in getting relegated. And that was
02:45the end of it and obviously off to Union Berlin. But the thing is now, he's coming back and
02:50he's going to be a year older. And the big thing to remember with this is that he's coming
02:53back to the team in the Championship. And that's the first thing I'd say about this.
02:57Junior Firpo, obviously, opinion is still divided a little bit on him somewhat as well.
03:01But I mean, his assists towards the end of the season speak for themselves. And he's
03:04a classic case of someone who seems to have thrived dropping down a level into the Championship.
03:09And put simply, Brendan Aronson at ÂŁ25 million, someone who has got 41 caps for the USA, someone
03:15who's still young at 23 years old. He should be able to be a decent force in the Championship
03:20and it'd be very disappointing if he's not. I totally take on board what appears to be
03:24the main concern with this, which is the physicality issue. He's quite small and slight. And I mean,
03:30put simply, he spent far too much time on the floor when he was at Leeds initially.
03:34Obviously, you can say that about people like Somerville and stuff getting fouled all the time.
03:38But with Aronson, it was just too easy often. He was just brushed off the ball too easily.
03:42But he's already done an interview and he's talked about coming back to Leeds and
03:47sort of saying he's got unfinished business. He said he had an awesome conversation with
03:51Daniel Farker. I think it's how he put it. And he readily admitted himself that one of the things
03:55he has to do and has tried to do is to sort of bulk up a little bit. So, it's obviously
03:59something he's aware of. He's definitely got good skill on him and pace and work rate. So,
04:06if he can sort that element of it out and get a bit more robust and get used to the physicality
04:11of the Championship a little bit more, then hopefully he'll be a decent... I mean, not
04:15signing because he's already Leeds' player, but it does feel like a new signing because,
04:19as you said, I don't think anybody expected him back. Daniel Farker was asked about the
04:22low knees who'd gone out a few times during the season and there was never really much said about
04:26it in terms of other than the fact that they probably won't be coming back, worse to that
04:30effect. But here he is. You sort of wonder if he's coming back, if any of the others will.
04:34But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But yeah, I think I'd be cautiously optimistic
04:40and especially so because we said in the last one of these shows, Daniel, that wingers would
04:45be something that's almost certainly going to be in short supply because on the assumption that
04:49we're thinking that Crisensio Somerville will go and quite likely Willy Nonto too. And that's what
04:54end of the day... Well, Aronson's a number 10 stroke winger really, but he can play in those
04:58positions. So, I mean, put basically, it all seems to make sense is the way I would see it.
05:03But I also totally understand the point that it left a sour taste when not just him but the other
05:08low knees all departed, full on relegation. He said it's time for unfinished business. He said
05:14he wants to come back and get the club promoted. So the proof will be in the pudding now, won't it?
05:18It's a huge challenge to him. But yeah, I would, as I say, those points down a division,
05:24how much the pay from the international experience he's got, it's just a physicality issue. But if
05:28he can sort that out and bulk up a bit, then hopefully, he'll come back to good effects.
05:33It's big news though. It is. I think that a lot of fans who perhaps are sitting on the side of,
05:39you know, it is a bit of a sour taste. Their opinions will soon change if he comes in and
05:43hits the ground running at the start of the season in August, of course. Football is a
05:47fickle sport, let's be honest. Well, the other example is Willie Nonto. I mean, that's a very,
05:55very easy comparison. And it's totally different. Obviously, it's not just exactly the same case,
05:58but it's a similar sort of scenario. It's probably obviously, let's be honest, with Nonto,
06:03it was worse because he essentially refused to play for the club and handed in a transfer request.
06:07I mean, and who would have thought that had been a way back there? And there was. And,
06:12you know, I don't know about forgive and forget, but it's kind of like, you know,
06:15time moves on, doesn't it? And at the end of the day, essentially all fans want,
06:19or obviously the loyalty is what they want, really. It's on the teams to win, you know,
06:23and if Aronson comes back and starts banging in goals and assists, then it will certainly
06:26make things a lot smoother. Yes, no, I fully agree. As I said, it's a fickle sport. And
06:32as with Nonto there, things can change very, very quickly. Obviously, the sour taste will be there
06:38and you can completely understand that. But as I said before, if he hits the ground running, well,
06:43I'm sure fans will appreciate it.