Brenden Aaronson so at home at Leeds after getting engaged to high-school sweetheart and winning over doubters

YORKSHIRE will forever have a special place in Brenden Aaronson’s heart. Not only is he enjoying the best season of his career with Leeds but it is the county where he got engaged to his high-school sweetheart Milana D’Ambra. The USA international, 24, got down on one knee in the famous Harrogate park, The Stray, and the happy couple are due to "march up the aisle together" next year.

He told SunSport: "It was so nerve-racking. It was the whole build-up to asking the question but thankfully she said, ‘Yes.’. "Getting ready for the wedding will be more stressful than any game of football. "But Milana has helped me a ton in my life so it’s really great we’re getting married.".

It is an exciting time for Aaronson and he hopes to make this season one to remember by helping to shoot Leeds back into the big time. And next year is set to be his greatest yet - playing in the top flight again then almost immediately after the nuptials across the pond he hopes to appear for USA at the World Cup on home soil.

Top-of-the-table Leeds travel 36 miles south down the M1 on Monday to take on second-placed Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United. It’s a far cry from the 5,500 miles-plus journey and a six-hour time difference he negotiated when the two sides last met at Elland Road in October.

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS. Aaronson had played a full 90 minutes for USA in Mexico, playing at high altitude in Guadalajara, in a game that did not finish until just before 6am UK time on the Wednesday. Yet he remarkably started against the Blades on the Friday night in a 2-0 win.

And the midfielder has so far played in all 33 Championship games this season, which is testament to his remarkable stamina. He said: "It’s always tough with the national team, going all the way to the US and back, but I’ve done it for the last four and a half years playing club football in Europe so I’m used to it.

"We played that game at high altitude in Mexico and it was so difficult. "Then that night I got on a private jet with a bunch of European-based Americans, flying either to London or Amsterdam. "It’s a good little system where all the clubs from Europe and the US football federation chip in to charter the planes to allow us to get back home a day earlier.

"I got back for Thursday and was available to play Friday. "Afterwards I felt dead! But I knew if I could get through the game and play at my level then get through to the next week and have some days to relax and sleep I could do it. "And that’s what I’ve been doing all season. I’ve been able to keep confidence in what I’m doing.".

Group A: Winner GER/ITA, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg. Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo. Group C: Loser POR/DEN, Greece, Scotland, Belarus. Group D: Winner FRA/CRO, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan. Group E: Winner SPA/NED, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria.

Group F: Winner POR/DEN, Hungary, Ireland, Armenia. Group G: Loser SPA/NED, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta. Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino. Group I: Loser GER/ITA, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova. Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechenstein.

Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra. Group L: Loser FRA/CRO, Czechia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar. Aaronson has turned around fan opinion this season. Having played 36 games in the Premier League after joining from Red Bull Salzburg in May 2022 in a £24.7million deal, he activated a relegation-release loan clause to spend last season with Bundesliga club Union Berlin to anger supporters.

And there was a hostile response on social media when it was announced Aaronson had decided to come back this season. He said: "It’s tough when you see people are doubting you but I stayed away from the internet and focussed on myself. "I’m a people pleaser and care about other people’s feelings. I like to make people happy and prove to them how good I am.

"I learned from the Prem season when I was first here and when I came back I learned a ton on focusing on myself and believing in myself. "I’ve let myself work over the fans and continue being like that.". Aaronson - nicknamed the Metford Messi back home - bucked the trend in the small New Jersey town by taking up "soccer" while most of his friends were into baseball and American Football.

While his younger brother Paxten, 21, also has become a professional footballer and got a senior USA cap to his name, currently on loan at Dutch club Utrecht from Eintracht Frankfurt. And although he is half-decent at basketball, and has played Lacrosse, football has always been his passion.

He grew up supporting Liverpool while idolising the likes of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Philippe Coutinho. He also had a soft spot for Tottenham when Luka Modric was strutting his stuff in North London. Aaronson - whose dad Rusty is a football coach - progressed through the ranks of MLS side Philadelphia Union and has gone on to win 47 caps for his country.

The Leeds star is so excited that the World Cup will be co-hosted by his homeland alongside Canada and Mexico - and has enjoyed working under new coach and former Chelsea, Tottenham and Southampton coach Mauricio Pochettino, who took over in September.