Brenden Aaronson reveals Leeds United head start, initiation song and Crystal Palace hope

A summer signing from RB Salzburg for £25m, Aaronson has signed up for a very different life from the one he recently led.

The Austrian Bundesliga, with the greatest of respect, is not the Premier League and while Aaronson came up against some elite opposition and serious physicality in the Champions League, he's the first to admit the English top flight is a 'different beast.'

He's swapping views of the Eastern Alps for the West Yorkshire countryside he will drive through to get to Thorp Arch for training every day.

But what would be a huge move for most young players has been made a lot more manageable by a football system he knows inside out and some very familiar faces.

Aaronson worked with Jesse Marsch in Austria, he played alongside Leeds' new right-back Rasmus Kristensen there, and US Men's National Team international Tyler Adams team-mate, another summer addition for the Whites, is not only a pal but a fellow Red Bull product.

You could say that Victor Orta and Marsch have created a home away from home for Aaronson to walk into.

"It's been great, to start off with these guys, to have such a great start I mean, emotionally too - it's hard to move from another club and to have guys that have come in - but just to be a part of the group, it's been amazing.

"And then on the football side it's been good, I mean I know the system, I played it before and it's kind of been, I guess a smooth transition.

"It definitely does [help, knowing the system], like the pressing triggers and where to be in spots offensively and what to do when we lose the ball.The guys are still learning this as a group, I'm still getting back into it too. But I think it's great to have kind of a headstart in that area."

The tour of Australia has given Aaronson time to get to know those in the squad with whom he was not already acquainted.

With his initiation song [Baby by Justin Bieber, what else?] out of the way he's a fully fledged squad member.

Aston Villa, in Brisbane, presented him with his first taste of action against Premier League opposition.

"It was tough, you know, it was very physical," he said.

"I mean, I dealt with it in the Champions League, we played teams that are very physical, and I'm not gonna say I'm used to it because the Premier League is a different beast, but I felt good out there. I mean, I felt quick, I felt fit, I felt ready to go.

"I think the way Villa played was hard because they had a lot of guys coming back to the ball they want to combine and they want to do things like that, so it was a good first game for me. I enjoyed it. And I thought the group of guys gelled well."

Aaronson didn't want to come off when he did, on 60 minutes, but Marsch is intent on bringing everyone up to the same level in terms of pre-season game time and fitness.

There will be more involvement on Friday night when Leeds face Crystal Palace at Perth's Optus Stadium, and a chance to take another step forward.

"I think to get the win against Crystal Palace would be great for us, and it would bring the confidence up even more and I think the confidence is already high within the group," he said.

"We know the way we want to play so I think that if we execute we want to play in the game, I think the confidence will skyrocket."