Red Bull Salzburg sporting director explains rejecting Leeds United over Brenden Aaronson
Red Bull Salzburg’s sporting director Christoph Freund says the club could reject Leeds United over Brenden Aaronson due to financial security.
The Whites had two bids rejected for the American midfielder in January and ultimately went without signings during the transfer window, and the successful season for the Bulls looks to have also played a role.
The Austrian former midfielder told Salzburg 24: “It was a very quiet winter with the departures, that’s nice for once.
“The big goal was to keep the team together.”
The Austrian champions have a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich coming up and the man who succeeded Ralf Rangnik in his current role said: “Because of this extraordinary autumn, many boys want to continue to be there.
“We have created a very, very good basis in recent years through our successes and above all our transfer income and are not under so much pressure.”
Frustrating endeavour
Phil Hay in The Athletic has previously reported that once the chase for Aaronson ended the club did not intend to bring in any other signings, a situation that ultimately frustrated many fans.
Injuries and resulting poor form put United in a position of appearing to need help during the window, but manager Marcelo Bielsa trusts his process and was not interested in adding bodies for the sake of it.
Victor Orta travelled to Austria to try to secure the signing of the one target that the club did want, but even a bid of £20million was not enough to sway Freund.
It appears that it was the financial muscle of the Premier League has helped fortify the Austrian side against money from the same source during the winter.
The club sold their two Zambian stars to England for big money in the summer, with Enoch Mwepu moving to Brighton for a reported £18million (Sussex Live), and their record sale saw Patson Daka move to Leicester for £23million (Sky Sports).
With a historic Champions League tie ahead of them, these moves appear to have given them the luxury of not breaking up their first team mid-season, and the Whites suffered as a result, although they are expected to revisit the move after the season.
In other Leeds United news, a journalist has suggested money issues at the club played a role in the transfer window.