Phil Hay shares Aaronson-Leeds United update after speaking to people in Salzburg
Phil Hay doesn’t feel as though Red Bull Salzburg will be open to sell Brenden Aaronson to Leeds United after speaking to people in Austria.
The Athletic reported on Thursday night [20 Janauary] that the Whites are set to increase their bid for the 21-year-old USA midfielder after an initial £15million offer was rejected.
However, Hay feels as though Salzburg may want to keep hold of Aaronson despite being well clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga due to an upcoming Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich in the knock-out stages.
“Well, there is definitely a chance it doesn’t get done in this window because Salzburg have said no to this offer,” Hay said on the Phil Hay Show podcast.
“If you speak to people over there, I don’t get the feeling this is somebody that they’ve got on a list as saying, ‘we could take money for this guy, why don’t we get rid of him, Leeds are interested, let’s get it done’. But I get if you push the offer high enough then perhaps it does go through.
“They’re a long way clear in the Austrian Bundesliga because they are the strongest club over there by a mile. But they’re into the knockout stages of the Champions League, they’ve got Bayern Munich coming up in February. I think they would want him to be available for [that match].
“It’s a really difficult one to call but I think if I was getting the sense from the Salzburg end that they were very open to this and actually, they could do without and would rather have the money to spend it on somebody else, then you would say to yourself, ‘this is probably going to happen’.
“Given the first bid has been rejected and there’s some resistance there – and we’re quite late in the window – I’m honestly not sure.”
Tough call
Leeds do not seem as though they’re going to sign Aaronson unless a really big offer is made.
At what point do they pull the plug and walk away? Because at the end of the day, this guy may be 21 and doing well in Austria, but what guarantee is there of him doing well in the Premier League?
Rodrigo and Daniel James are the two most expensive signings in Leeds’ history and it seems as though Aaronson may be up there too if Salzburg push the Whites all the way.
However, Rodrigo was a Spain international who’d had plenty of experience in La Liga and James was a Wales international who’d been playing for Manchester United.
Aaronson is young and we are excited by the prospect of signing him. But we feel as though Leeds will get to a point fairly soon when they realise that the USA ace isn’t worth the money Salzburg are demanding.
Signing any player from abroad is a risk. In fact, any signing is. Leeds’ recent form means they can afford to take risks but the financial aspect must be taken into consideration too.
In other Leeds United news, Leeds have been told to pay over £6million to sign a “terrific” player who’s been tipped to move on.