Leeds United finally scored a goal from open play in the Premier League in their exciting 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers away from home on Saturday.
The Whites had only scored one goal, a penalty against Everton, in their opening four matches of the top-flight campaign, which created concerns over the attacking quality within the group.
Daniel Farke’s side hit back at the critics with three goals in the first half at the Molineux, two coming from open play, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach, and Noah Okafor all got themselves on the scoresheet.
Stach’s goal was the pick of the bunch. The summer signing from Hoffenheim’s belting free-kick into the top corner was a beautiful goal, and he followed that up with an assist for Okafor’s strike.
That win does not put all concerns over the quality of the squad to bed, though, firstly because Wolves have lost all five of their matches in the division and appear to be one of the weaker teams in the league.
Secondly, because there are still some players in the team who are yet to reach lift-off in the Premier League, Brenden Aaronson is one of them.
Why Brenden Aaronson needs to step up for Leeds
To his credit, the USA international is a hard-working player who will always put in a shift and leave everything on the pitch with his relentless pressing and desire to win possession back.
Unfortunately, though, Aaronson’s lack of physicality often means that his hard work goes unrewarded at Premier League level, because opposition players are faster and stronger than him.
For example, the USNMT star has not won a single aerial duel in the division so far, across five appearances, per Sofascore, and he has already been dribbled past six times, ranking in the bottom 6% of wingers in the league in that statistic, per FotMob.
Aaronson showed flashes of quality in the Championship last season, scoring nine goals and providing two assists in 46 matches, but he has yet to prove that he is good enough for the Premier League.
His performances when the West Yorkshire outfit were last in the big time do not help the idea that he is not up to scratch at this level, as he was not up to the task in the 2022/23 campaign.
Appearances
36
xG
3.86
Goals
1
xA
2.59
Assists
3
Ground duel success rate
43%
Aerial duel success rate
17%
As you can see in the table above, Aaronson hugely underperformed in front of goal and lost the majority of his duels on the deck and in the air in that season, as Leeds were relegated from the Premier League.
This is why the 24-year-old attacker has to step up in the present day and start to show that he can deliver goals and assists on a regular basis, having failed to provide any goal contributions in five league games so far this term.
The lack of quality provided by Aaronson at the top end of the pitch should enhance the feeling of regret that the club should have for cashing in on a player who has gone on to be even better than the former RB Salzburg star.
Leeds had Polish attacking midfielder Mateusz Bogusz on their books before they decided to cash in on him in March 2023, for a fee of £874k, per Transfermarkt.
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What the versatile forward has achieved since moving on from Elland Road suggests that the Whites had a mare by allowing him to move on for a fee that was less than £1m.
Why Leeds United should have kept Mateusz Bogusz
Bogusz only played three times for the first-team, starting two of those matches, at Leeds before his move to LAFC in 2023, which means that the midfield star did not get many opportunities to shine in West Yorkshire.
The Poland international’s transfer to the MLS provided him with the chance to play regular football and showcase his quality at the top end of the pitch week-in-week-out, and he grasped that chance with both hands.
Bogusz, who was hailed as a “dangerous” player by reporter Greg Beacham, scored 24 goals and provided 19 assists in 90 matches for LAFC in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he provided goals and assists on a regular basis.
The 24-year-old star, who is the same age as Aaronson, proved that he could produce consistent performances in the final third, mostly playing as an attacking midfielder for the American outfit.
Appearances
36
46
xG
9.20
11.43
Goals
16
9
Big chances created
9
9
xA
6.11
6.05
Assists
8
2
As you can see in the table above, Bogusz’s performances in the MLS during the 2024 season were more impressive, particularly from a goalscoring perspective, than Aaronson’s were in the Championship for Farke’s dominant side.
These statistics suggest that the Whites would have been better off with the Poland international in the number ten position, because he could have offered more quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals at the top end of the pitch.
As well as missing out on a quality player, Leeds also missed out on a bigger payday. Cruz Azul swooped in to sign the attacking midfielder for a fee of £7.4m in January of this year, which is significantly more than the £874k that the Whites raked in for his services in 2023.
At the time of writing (23/09/2025), Bogusz is valued at £6.5m by Transfermarkt after a return of two goals and seven assists in 32 outings for the Mexican side. This means that his value has soared by 644% from the £874k that he was sold for less than three years ago.
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Therefore, Leeds must regret cashing in on Bogusz for multiple reasons, because he would be an upgrade on one of the club’s current attackers, Aaronson, and because they missed out on millions.