Colorado Rapids & Paxten Aaronson: Why the USMNT midfielder returned to MLS | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Thursday’s press conference carried all the traditional trappings of a high-profile player unveiling.

Paxten Aaronson fielded half an hour’s worth of probing questions from a room of reporters, repeatedly expressing both excitement about his new club and the difficult decision of a big move, away from German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt and across international borders.

The leaders flanking him on the dais emphasized how thrilled they were to have successfully recruited the US international – even though the achievement reportedly cost them somewhere north of $7 million, smashing their club’s transfer record – extolling his résumé, skill set and character.

“If you ever become a coach, you'd be on the hunt, searching around the globe for a guy like you," said his new manager, "that plays with the intensity, the joy, the love for the game, the energy that [you do] … the ultimate team player, that puts the team first in everything you do.”

Colorado's new No. 10

At the end, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder posed for photos with the jersey he’ll be wearing, emblazoned with the mystical No. 10, a universal footballing marker of both talent and responsibility.

Yet it wasn’t London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, or Berlin in the background of the official club photos, but the downtown skyline of Denver – and it was Colorado Rapids president Padraig Smith and head coach Chris Armas flanking the showcase signing.

Aaronson has landed on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in essence, a million miles from anywhere like most observers expected the Philadelphia Union academy product to touch down this summer.

“The puzzlement is fair from the media,” Aaronson acknowledged at one point with a subtle smile. “But for me, I think nobody ever really knows the full story.

“It’s a unique time in my career,” he explained of his choice. “The two guys sitting next to me, I think, presented an opportunity and a project to me at this point in time in my career. I think it's something different. I think it'll challenge me as a young player to come into a team to fight for trophies, to get better in roles and aspects maybe Europe can't give me.”

Blazing his own path

The very words are heresy for many, including a substantial chunk of the USMNT fanbase, who immediately expressed their dismay on social media.

Aaronson, though – whose older brother Brenden is again crossing swords with the world’s elite in the English Premier League this season at Leeds United – says he isn’t much for social media. And if there was any reaction to all that from the Rapids technical staff on Thursday, it was mostly defiance, fierce pride and perhaps a dash of mischievous delight.

“Look, there's a lot of experts out there that can talk about the tactics and what we get wrong, and that's fair. What's unfair is to make judgments and have, for me, outlandish opinions on what's best for a young man,” said Armas. “The United States and MLS should celebrate moments like this. Our best young players want to come play in our league. For me, it's not baffling or confusing at all.

“There's a human being inside that we should consider.”

One of the league’s earliest stars in his own playing days, Armas has seen MLS’s rise from multiple angles. If MLS is sufficient for the GOAT, Lionel Messi, and his star-spangled Inter Miami project, he reasoned, why not ‘Pax10’?

“The top talent that we have, our league is great. Guys are developing,” said Armas. “We should celebrate this day, and we should get excited that we get to see the best young talent that we [have] on display.”

Settling down

After two seasons of productive loan stints in the Dutch Eredivisie, the 2026 World Cup looming just months away, one of the United States’ brightest young talents decided that being a flagship signing for an MLS club was his best chance at a step forward in his career – a superior option to a year on the margins in Frankfurt, or another nomadic stint somewhere on the Old Continent.

Flush from the sudden, lucrative cash transfer of Djordje Mihailovic to Toronto FC and keen to prevent their 2025 campaign from slipping away as a result, the Rapids brain trust took a crack from well outside the box, connected cleanly and found the top corner.

“It wasn't easy for me to make the decision. Yeah, I battled a lot of it,” continued Aaronson. “But at the end of the day, the call I had with them, it also came down to, where was I going to be the happiest playing my soccer? And yeah, came down to being coached by [Armas] and being in Colorado, that was a massive decision for me. I'm super excited that I made it, and I'm really just happy to get started.”

Aaronson also pointed to the marked gains made by his former Union homegrown colleagues Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan on the domestic scene over the past year or two as evidence that he can continue his own upward trajectory much closer to his loved ones, and in a region perennially lauded for its high quality of life.

“When I first went to Europe, I had the year there, then got loaned out, so I never really had a place to settle down. I was constantly on the move,” said Aaronson. “They worked out great for me, the loans, they couldn't have gone better. I enjoyed every moment in the Netherlands. But I haven't really been able to settle down somewhere and kind of call home. And I think that really intrigued me about here, building that foundation.”

Postseason push

The Rapids, meanwhile, are savoring their swoop, marking a new level in their ongoing culture shift, much of it anchored on welcoming home USMNTers battered by rough sailing across the pond. And there’s much to play for, with the Mile High Club sitting seventh in the Western Conference table, just a few points back of the coveted top four who’ll enjoy home-field advantage in Round One of the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Armas chooses to categorize the post-Leagues Cup stretch run as a nine-game mini-season, and his ‘Pids are 2-0 at present.

“We want to bring in the best young players and build teams that are capable of winning trophies on our side, but exciting and entertaining our fans as well. And I think we had an opportunity here to do just that,” said Smith.

“We love having this young, domestic American core, and we think we have a real chance to not only stay above the line, but hopefully push even further up and then ultimately challenge for trophies.”