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Kieran King

Brenden Aaronson answers question on Leeds United transfer stance for the first time

Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson has refused to speak about transfer speculation amid reported transfer interest from Leeds United.

The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to Elland Road this month as Marcelo Bielsa aims to strengthen this squad for the second half of the season.

According to The Athletic, Leeds have lodged an improved £20m offer to sign the USA international after seeing an initial £15m bid rejected last week.

However, Aaronson has now joined up with his country ahead of three World Cup qualifiers in the next fortnight.

USA, who currently sit second in their CONCACAF group, are set to take on El Salvador, Canada and Honduras as they try to secure their place in this year's Qatar tournament.

With six days to go until the end of the transfer window, this could make a move for Aaronson tough to complete and he has opened up on his own future.

He said in a press conference: "I'm not going to talk about that. It’s a subject I don't want to talk about right now.

"I'm away from it, I'm really not worried about it. I'm just worried about getting wins with America."

Aaronson's last competitive match came back in December as Salzburg booked their spot in the last-16 of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Sevilla.

There has been concerns over his fitness after a lack of game time over the festive period, with Salzburg's league season halted due to a winter break in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Although Aaronson played 60 minutes for Salzburg in a friendly last week, this may have been a concern for Leeds should they sign him given the physical demands of English football.

The Whites were scheduled to have seven games over a four-week period over Christmas - which included matches in both the Premier League and the FA Cup.

But the former Philadelphia Union playmaker, who has scored 12 goals in 51 appearances for Salzburg, dismissed any worries about his fitness and admitted he is 'ready to go'.

"I'm always ready to play 90 minutes, everybody knows how much I run," he said.

"I feel really fit, I think Red Bull do an awesome job of getting us fit for the season. I got my 60-minute game done last time out and we run like it's 90 minutes, so I don't think it's a problem and I feel really good and ready to go."

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