By OkayGoal 
Paxten Aaronson might have been loaned out twice since his arrival at Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, but the thriving midfielder has high aspirations for making 2025-26 the season that he stays with his parent club.
Aaronson is currently with the U.S. men’s national team ahead of a busy June schedule of matches. The former Philadelphia Union homegrown entered Mauricio Pochettino’s squad off of the back of his best season yet at club level.
Aaronson made 37 appearances for Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht, scoring nine goals and adding six assists in all competitions. He helped Utrecht finish fourth in the league table, which clinched the club a UEFA Europa League group stage berth for next season.
Although Frankfurt might have other plans for Aaronson’s long-term future, the 21-year-old is focused on whatever comes his way after the international window.
“Yeah I think the plan now is to 100% go back to Frankfurt and assess how it goes there,” Aaronson told reporters in a conference call Thursday. “For me, the most important thing is having a good preseason at Frankfurt. My main goal is to be a Frankfurt player and to be an important one. If that can be this year, that would be great.
“If not, Frankfurt have had good communication with me,” he added. “Maybe they might think I need another year out on loan to develop, maybe at Utrecht. It’s just about taking it step-by-step right now.”
Aaronson, who made his USMNT debut in January 2023, is one of several young players entrusted by Pochettino to help spark the program back on track this summer. The USMNT will face Turkey and Switzerland in a pair of friendlies over the next four days before having a two-week preparatory window ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage.
Alongside his brother Brenden, Paxten will be eager to fight for minutes in the USMNT’s midfield, especially after delivering a productive campaign in one of Europe’s more competitive leagues. While there will certainly be competition amongst the Aaronson brothers over the next few weeks, there has also been praise from Brenden on his younger brother’s positive growth on the field.
“I think the biggest thing with Paxten after watching a lot of his games at Utrecht is his ability to win so many challenges,” Brenden said about Paxten. “He played a bit deeper at times at Utrecht but was still all over the place. I think he got good at coming down to the ball and being balanced before helping the team advance upfield. I think that is something he has really grown with.”
The USMNT head into Saturday’s showdown with Turkey, seeking to snap a two-match losing streak after a dismal ending to their 2024-25 Nations League campaign.