GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Aidan Morris’s blossoming year in soccer began with him as a midfield keystone for the MLS champion Columbus Crew and a probable starter on the U.S. Olympic team.
But as 2024 turns into the final stretch, the 22-year-old Floridian is employed in northeast England instead of central Ohio. He never did make it to Paris with the junior national team — sidetracked by preseason commitments to second-flight Middlesbrough — but finds himself in the thick of competition for playing time with the senior program under new coach Mauricio Pochettino.
On a steady ascent for years, Morris’s career has high-tailed the past four months.