United States youth national team goalkeeper Aidan Stokes is set to join Premier League side Brentford on loan from Red Bull New York. The 18-year-old goalkeeper will play for Brentford's Premier League 2 team, a developmental league for England's top tier, with an option for the club to buy his contract.
Stokes, a native of Totowa, New Jersey, progressed through the Red Bulls Academy system, starting at the U-15 level and continuing through U-17. He signed a four-year MLS contract with the Red Bulls in April 2023, extending through 2027 with an option for 2028.
He has been a notable player on the national youth scene, receiving call-ups for the U-18 camp in Portugal in March and the U-19 camp in May. During the 2025 U-17 World Cup, Stokes made four appearances for the U-17 squad, recording two shutouts and allowing only two goals.
Stokes is also eligible to represent Wales and England due to his ancestry and has previously been called up by both national teams. He played for Wales' U-16 squad in 2023 and for England's U-16 team in 2024.
For the past three seasons, Stokes has played for the Red Bulls' developmental squad. He made his MLS Next Pro debut on April 21, 2024, against Philadelphia Union II and started 18 matches during the 2024 season. He was part of the Red Bulls II team that won the MLS NEXT Pro Cup in 2025 and has made seven appearances for the development team this season.
Stokes attributes his start in soccer to his father, Nick Stokes, a former semi-professional goalkeeper in Wales. "I started just because my dad got me into it," Stokes told the "Metro Energy Soccer" podcast in 2025. "My dad played it because he grew up in Wales and he played it his entire childhood. And he kind of passed that on to me and then I fell in love with the game."