Aziel Jackson returns to Minnesota - older, and perhaps ready for more
Aziel Jackson returns to Minnesota, in a reversal of a departure than many fans didn't love in the first place.
Minnesota United's first addition of the transfer window is a loan, but it's also a return - of a player that they might have regretted selling in the first place.
The Loons announced Thursday they'd signed a loan deal for Aziel "AZ" Jackson, on loan from Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok for the remainder of 2026, with an option to buy at the end of the loan. (And yes, you can tell my brain has been broken by soccer, in that I am still struggling not to pronounce his name "ah-zed," like the Dutch team).
Jackson was a top-tier prospect for Minnesota in 2021 and 2022, and looked like he might be one of the first players to break through from the second team to the first team, but the Loons dealt him to St. Louis in November 2022 in somewhat mystifying circumstances. Minnesota let him go for $150,000 in GAM, then turned around and dealt half that GAM to Los Angeles for Cameron Dunbar, who played 242 minutes total for the first team, and a third-round draft pick, on which they passed.
It was if they'd sold high on a promising prospect, except they forgot the "high" part.
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