‘It will be weird sharing the pitch’: Paxten Aaronson on playing against his brother

Everything moves fast for Paxten Aaronson.

The 20-year-old American is an all-action attacking midfielder, a player who thinks and acts quickly, who thrives in tight spaces or amid the organized chaos of transition football. He is as fleet of mind as he is of foot. And, so far, his career trajectory has mimicked his super-charged playing style.

Aaronson was just 17 when he made his senior MLS debut for Philadelphia Union, where he followed a path from academy to first team forged by his older brother, United States international Brenden Aaronson. He quickly became a regular fixture of the senior squad at Subaru Park before, in November last year, just 18 months on from his first Union appearance, he secured a move to Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga.

“It was always a goal of mine to play in Europe,” Aaronson says. “Once I saw guys from Philadelphia Union like my brother, Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty make the move, it made me realize that if I had a good couple seasons in Philadelphia, I could get a move to a top club in Europe as well. They kind of paved the way for me and gave me foresight into the future of what could happen for me.

“There was always interest and clubs contacting Ernst [Tanner, the Philadelphia Union general manager] about [my] availability. But there was never anything set in stone. It was just interest.”

The number of clubs enquiring about Aaronson’s availability multiplied over the summer of 2022, after he led the US to victory in the Concacaf Under-20 Championship. With eight goals, he was the tournament’s highest scorer and was voted its best player. His reputation enhanced, a wealth of possible future destinations opened up. When assessing his options, he looked to the example of the young American players who’ve thrived recently in Germany’s top league. He recognized, also, a high-octane way of playing that mirrored his own game.

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“I’ve seen a lot of success over here,” he says. “Christian [Pulisic] when he was at Dortmund, he obviously excelled and got that big move to Chelsea. Looking into the league and the style of play, it just suited me. It’s a very attacking, on-the-front-foot, in-your-face kind of league. Whenever you think about the games, it’s a lot of transition moments, three-v-twos, four-v-threes to goal – who can be more clinical and who can win those transition moments? I’ve always flourished in that high-attacking, high-transition type of game. A lot of teams in the Bundesliga play that way, so I thought it would be a great fit.

“I thought that if I could make the jump now and settle in as soon as possible, it would only benefit me for the long run. There was talk about staying a bit longer in Philly, maybe waiting half a year to make the jump, but ultimately everybody got on the same page, including myself, in thinking the earlier I could get here, the better for my development.

“The language is difficult to speak. But I think I’ve done a good job of, on the field, at least understanding quite a bit of it. For me, the easiest this is when you talk and joke around – that’s how you learn the best. And I take German lessons, of course.”

If Aaronson needs a study partner, he has one in his family. Brenden, two years Paxten’s senior, joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2021, at age 20. The older Aaronson impressed so much in his season and a half in Austria that Leeds United paid $30.4m to take him to the Premier League last year. Having an older brother who is already a USMNT mainstay places expectation on the younger sibling’s shoulders, but Paxten tunes out the inevitable comparisons.

“He paved that path for me and showed what it was like,” Aaronson says. “Of course, people are always going to make comparisons and say one’s like this, one’s like that. I never really read into that. One, because we are different players, but also because we are so close off the field, so I never really felt that. I just knew that on the field we were two completely separate people and I never really felt that pressure.

“When the offer first came from Eintracht and we talked about it, he said that it was a move and an opportunity for me that I had to take because it doesn’t come to a lot of people and it doesn’t come often. He said, ‘You just have to do what’s best for your career and think a bit selfishly. For a top club like that, don’t look back, just go for it.’”

Since moving to Frankfurt, there has been no slowing of Aaronson’s trajectory. A first-team debut arrived in March this year, as he replaced World Cup winner Mario Götze in a 2-0 defeat to Union Berlin.

“Honestly, myself and even the staff here last year would say it was sooner than expected,” he says. “When I first came to Eintracht, the first six months were going to be just developing and settling it. We had some injuries and I was training really well. It just kind of happened. That’s how a lot of kids get their chance. I was just staying ready for it and training hard every day. When that opportunity comes, you’ve got to take it, because you never know how many you’re going to get.

By that point, he’d already made his first senior appearance for the United States, appearing in a January friendly against Colombia. That outing made the Aaronson brothers the eighth set of siblings to represent the USMNT, although they have yet to share a pitch at the international level.

“Playing together for the national team is the number one thing,” Aaronson says. “That would be – I don’t even know how to describe it. It would be funny but also just crazy to think about sharing the pitch for the national team in huge moments. That’s something we’ve talked about and dreamed of since we were kids.”

The brothers’ childhood ambition didn’t extend to thoughts that they may someday play opposite each other in one of Europe’s most prestigious leagues. That will be the reality on 4 November, when Eintracht travel to Germany’s capital to take on Union Berlin, where Brenden is on loan this season. Their parents and sister will be watching from the stands, making it an all-Aaronson affair.

“That will be an exciting moment,” Paxten says. “It will definitely be weird at first. I was so used to playing with him as a kid. We played against each other one-on-one and stuff, but it will be weird sharing the pitch on the big stage. It will be a really cool moment.”

After seven substitute appearances in the Bundesliga last season, Aaronson has been even more involved in the new campaign. He registered his first assists for Eintracht in September’s 1-1 draw with Cologne, setting up Niels Nkounkou to score a late equalizer. His first start for the club came later that month, too, in a Uafa Conference League win over Aberdeen. It’s reasonable to expect that by the time Eintracht faces Union and his brother for a second time this season, in March, Aaronson’s role on the team will have grown further. But, just like thoughts of a deep run in European competition or a World Cup on home soil in 2026, he considers the tournament too distant a horizon to contemplate.

“I still have to prove myself every day in training,” he says. “Nothing is given. I just have to keep pushing and continuing to strive for more.

“I’m not the kind of guy that sets goals too far ahead. For me, it’s day by day, game by game. If I just focus on the here and the now, the next games coming up and just being present in the moment, I’ve found that works best for me.”

So far, it’s a philosophy that’s delivered rapid progress.