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Morning update

Aaronson, McKennie see stocks rise, Matarazzo makes history, Downs & Campbell move, & more

ASN is back in full force with daily columns and we will start in Europe where there is a lot of news both on the field with games, and off the field with transfer news and rumors
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 06, 2026
3:00 AM

HAPPY TUESDAY TO all ASN readers, it’s time to get back up to daily columns on the site and we will kick it off with news from abroad including covering all the top stories, both on the field and off the field with transfers.

Let’s start in England

 

Aaronson’s stock on the rise

 

Brenden Aaronson scored the opening goal for Leeds United on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. Unfortunately, Leeds United was only able to hold the lead for three minutes before Manchester United equalized.

But the point was important for Leeds in terms of maintaining its seven point cushion over the relegation line.

For Aaronson, the goal was yet another reflection of how well he is playing this season and how much more comfortable he looks in the Premier League compared with two season ago when Leeds were relegated.

It was just an overall good performance from the New Jersey native who was direct in getting the ball into the attack. He also won his duels and held onto the ball well.

This goal was one of his “max effort” type goals, but it also showed nice finishing abilities.



One year ago, Mauricio Pochettino seemed to not rate Aaronson – leaving him off the Nations League roster and not playing him at the Gold Cup. But Aaronson’s status within the team improved in the fall. Now he is playing much better for Leeds, which should only continue to help.

On the national team, he is competing with Malik Tillman, Diego Luna, Gio Reyna, Jack McGlynn, and Alex Zendejas. These players are all mostly attacking in nature, and can play several different positions. 

Without doubt, Aaronson is making it harder for the other guys and right now it seems very likely he makes the World Cup team. He likely won’t start, but he will see minutes and could be very valuable bringing energy off the bench. It was interesting that Pochettino took awhile to come around to Aaronson given that Aaronson fits many of the attributes Pochettino has stressed he wants. Aaronson plays with more intensity than almost everyone else in the pool. He is extremely positive and whether he starts or comes off the bench, he is ready to help. 

 

McKennie suring amid contract limbo

 

Juventus played Lecce to a 1-1 draw on Saturday in what was a disappointing draw for Juve. The team’s loan goal was scored by Weston McKennie, who bagged his first Serie A goal of the season. The goal was a nice reward for McKennie who has been very active and sharp for Juventus this season in terms of creating chances in the attack.



There is a lot to like about where McKennie is as a player. Compared with the last few seasons, he is fitter, he is sharper in the attack, he is working harder and is just overall better.

With six months remaining on his contract, he’s free to sign with anywhere and should be motivated for both the World Cup and a contract. It’s refreshing to see him play with this much fire and certainly he can be a very good player for the U.S. team this summer.

 

Robinson’s comeback continues

 

Antonee Robinson began his comeback on December 13. Since then he has played in six games for Fulham, and each time he has gone a full 90 minutes while playing well.

His latest outing was a full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Right now he is checking the two most important boxes for a player in his comeback: quality and durability.

Against Liverpool, Robinson was one of Fulham’s best players as he covered the left side well on both sides of the ball and showed such an impressive display of athleticism.

If Robinson can keep it up, it’s a game changer for the USMNT who can add one of the best left backs in the Premier League to its starting XI. After the tough year he had in 2025, everyone has their fingers crossed. There really isn’t anything you can add.

 

Matarazzo vs. Cardoso

 

Pellegrino Matarazzo became the first American manager in LaLiga on Sunday when he guided his Real Sociedad team to a valuable 1-1 point against Atletico Madrid. In the middle of a relegation fight, all points are valuable and any result against one of the league’s top teams is good. Sociedad was actually in a good position to score more goals and had several shots on goal. In the first half, they had a goal called back for offside.

On another note, Johnny Cardoso made a rare appearance for Atletico. He completed 18/19 passes and was 6/6 in his long balls – which was all solid. Cardoso needs more minutes and needs to stay healthy to get onto the World Cup team. This was a good step in getting him there.

All things considered, this was a good result for both Cardoso and Matarazzo, who coincidentally were both born in New Jersey.

 

Musah improving at Atalanta

 

Yunus Musah has had a tough start to his loan with Atalanta, and while things aren’t great yet, his situation is improving. Sunday provided a good bit of evidence for this. With Atalanta holding a 1-0 lead on Roma in the 60th minute, Musah was subbed into the game to hold the result. No goals were scored for either team once Musah came on, but the three points were huge for Atalanta to move into eighth place.

Musah was solid in his 30 minutes and he earned the praise of the media, including Gazzetta dello Sport which said: “In the middle, he’s a buzzing presence who brings freshness and keeps the midfield under Atalanta’s control. His rise within the team hierarchy continues.”

In each of the last four games, Musah has played at least 25 minutes. In one game, he managed his only Serie A start of the loan and Atalanta won 1-0. Of those four games, Atalanta has won three times.

He still has a lot of work to do to make the World Cup team, but things are finally starting to trend his way. Eventually, he will need to begin to earn starts on a consistent basis. He also needs to start creating or finishing goal scoring chances. As of now, he is probably on the outside looking in regarding the World Cup team. But he is trending upward.

In the coming weeks or months, Atalanta will have to decide whether to exercise its option to buy on the loan.

These are important times for Musah.

 

Yanks in Ligue 1

 

Two American players in France were done in by their teammates this weekend as red cards made results nearly impossible.

Mark McKenzie and Toulouse were down to 10 men starting in the 23rd minute in a 3-0 loss at home to Ligue 1 leading Lens.

Marseille were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute and then were down to nine men in the 56th minute as they lost at home to Nantes 2-0. Tim Weah played the full 90 at right wingback in a tough loss.

Folarin Balogun went 90 minutes for Monaco in a 3-1 loss at home to Lyon. The good news is that Balogun had an assist on Monaco's only goal. He showed a lot of muscle in trying to control the ball even if the final pass was accidental. 

The bad news is that both Monaco and Balogun have been struggling in Ligue 1 for two months. Monaco has one win and seven losses in their last eight games in the league. Meanwhile, Balogun has been producing in the Champions League but will now hit two months since scoring in Ligue 1. They end the weekend in 9th place.

As for Balogun and the USMNT, he's in a good position to start at the World Cup but Ricardo Pepi is also building a case for a look in March.

Also in this game, Tanner Tessmann played the final 24 minutes to see out the win. Although, he didn't have much to do.

 

Yanks in the Championship

 

The big highlight of the weekend for Americans in the Championship was Charlie Kelman, who scored two goals for Charleton in a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers – a matchup between teams currently ranked 19th and 20th in the league. Kelman won the Golden Boot last season in third tier League One with Leyton Orient and has finally started to find his footing in the Championship. He now has four goals on the season, with all having come since November 1.



It just shows how quickly things can change. The top two American goal scorers in the Championship have been Josh Sargent and Haji Wright. Over the past two plus months, it has been Patrick Agyemang and Charlie Kelman.

For Kelman, he has played for the U.S. youth national teams but could also play for England, Ireland, or Scotland – with the latter two seeming likely.

Speaking of Sargent and Wright, both had miserable weekends. Sargent couldn’t get anything done for Norwich in a 2-0 loss at home to Stoke City. He was invisible over his 89 minutes. Coventry, meanwhile, continues to slip and dropped a 3-2 loss to Birmingham City. Wright came off the bench in the 67th minute and did nothing.

German fullback Kai Wagner made his debut for Birmingham City and assisted on the opening goal in the sixth minute. After joining the club on a transfer from the Philadelphia Union, Wagner is yet another transfer from MLS to the Championship that has started off very well.

 

Aidan Morris returned to the starting lineup and played very well for Middlesbrough in a comfortable 4-0 win over Southampton. This reversed a two game losing skid and moved Boro back into second place, six points behind Coventry.

Morris very much looks like a midfielder who can be a huge asset to a Championship club that is favored in a promotion race. Whether he makes the World Cup roster will come down to the March roster. There is a lot of competition, including Tanner Tessmann, Johnny Cardoso, Yunus Musah, Sebastian Berhalter, etc.

Patrick Agyemang struggled for Derby County in a 2-1 loss to Wrexham. He played 60 minutes and wasn’t a threat to score.

George Campbell played well as a deeper sitting right back but couldn’t help 19th place West Brom avoid a 2-1 loss to Leicester.

 

Horvath and Wiley: Loans over

 

Ethan Horvath saw his loan to Sheffield Wednesday end, and now he will return to Cardiff City in third tier League One. This move is unsurprising as he was only brought into the club as a temporary injury replacement.



The problem for Horvath is that Cardiff City sits first in the league and likely is not looking to change its goalkeeper. Now over 30, Horvath will likely be looking at all options to find stability.

Caleb Wiley has reportedly been recalled by Chelsea from his loan to Watford. The 2024 Olympic left back performed well at Watford last season towards the end of the season and was brought back on a new loan this season. But the club changed managers twice since Wiley played last season and Wiley has been injured.

This is not good news as Wiley should have been able to find a spot at Watford. But it is good that this recall happened at the start of the January window. He can now heal up and Chelsea can look to find another club for him.

As for the national team, Wiley was always one for next cycle. Even if Robinson eventually leaves the picture, Wiley is competing with Max Arfsten, John Tolkin, Peyton Miller, and other younger options. He needs to get back on the field soon.

 

Outside the Big Five

 

Celtic collapsed, yet again, and lost at home to Rangers 3-1. On Monday, Wilfried Nancy was let go after eight games in charge (six of which were defeats). It was a tremendous disappointment for those who wanted Nancy to continue with his positive legacy from Montreal and Columbus. What exactly went wrong will take time to dissect. Did he try to change too much too soon? Was it a conflict with the players? Were there deeper problems at Celtic?

 

But, of course, the results were terrible and a club like Celtic cannot tolerate loses within the Scottish Premiership.

South in Portugal, Jordan Pefok got a rare goal for Tondela in a 3-1 win over Arouca. It was a huge win in a “relegation six-pointer” as both clubs were near the bottom of the table. Tondela is still in the relegation zone but can climb out with another win. His career has been tough to figure out but clearly he fell into a bad place in his final year in Germany. His return to France with Stade de Reims didn’t work out and now he’s battling in the bottom of Portugal. Even in this game, he scored late in the first half but was then pulled at halftime.

 

 

Transfer update

 

The big news is that Fulham are aggressively pursuing Ricardo Pepi on a transfer from PSV. This move has been widely reported but Kicker also adds that Augsburg would keep 20% as part of the sell-on it is holding. The numbers reported (one report listed $35 million) is substantial and it shows that Fulham rate Pepi extremely highly.

Normally, moves six months from a World Cup are concerning for players. If a player goes and struggles for minutes, it could jeopardize his World Cup hopes. Typically, players prefer to wait until the tournament is over to move.

But this could still be very beneficial for Pepi. He would get a chance to go to the Premier League. Unlike his tough move to Augsburg, Fulham are not in a relegation battle nor are they in realistic pursuit of European places. The club can afford to be patient. If the money reported is accurate, he will get plenty of opportunities to play.

It’s not an ideal time to move, but Pepi should go for it if PSV and Fulham agree on a price. It’s a special opportunity that might not be there again.  

Damion Downs is returning to Germany after just six months in England with Southampton. It was reported on Tuesday that Southampton reached an agreement to loan Downs to Hamburg SV with an option to buy this summer. This is good news for Downs. Southampton clearly no longer believed in Downs and likely regretted spending the money to bring him in. Downs rarely played in the Championship.

Now Downs gets to return to Germany where he belongs and is comfortable. He also joins a club that is similar to the one he left in Cologne. HSV is in 13th place of the Bundesliga and is four points clear of the relegation zone. Most relevant to Downs is that the club has scored just 16 goals in 15 Bundesliga games. The club needs goals and is bringing in a forward who has scored in each of the top two tiers of Germany.



Bad transfers happen and this is good for Downs to get out quickly. He is not going to lose much time in his development.

As for the national team, Downs is one for next cycle. It would take something extraordinary in the coming months at HSV for him to make the World Cup team. Pochettino prefers Pepi, Balogun, Wright, and Agyemang.

Borussia Dortmund winger Cole Campbell has joined Hoffenheim on loan for the rest of the Bundesliga season. The loan includes an option to buy but one report mentioned that the purchase price is the area of $10 million.



Campbell is very fast but is yet to show that he has more to his game. He never stood out in his limited first team minutes at Dortmund and the recent U-20 World Cup in September and October were especially concerning. In that tournament, Campbell wasn’t able to connect with his teammates in the attack and he was easily neutralized by opposing defenses.

The problem with this loan is that it seems essentially like a tryout where Hoffenheim has a few months to test him out before investing in him. Also, Hoffenheim is currently fifth in the table and are playing well. It won’t be easy for a young player who still has holes in his game to play.

It would be a huge boost for U.S. Soccer for Campbell to find his groove. This coming World Cup is way too soon, but Campbell should be eyed as a top Olympic prospect for 2028. His speed is elite. If he can add to his game, it will make him a very dangerous player.

 

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