Giovanni Reyna is set to miss time for Borussia Dortmund, club manager Nuri Sahin said Wednesday, with the injury that cost him two caps for the United States men’s national team this international break.
Reyna, still 21 until mid-November, will miss “a few weeks” with a muscular injury, according to Sahin, short-circuiting his hopes of getting onto the pitch for his new boss.
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The USMNT midfielder has had a tumultuous time dating back to the 2022 World Cup, a club season that saw him bag seven goals and two assists despite getting just 610 minutes of Bundesliga time.
He rarely played for Edin Terzic the first half of last season, taking a loan to Nottingham Forest in the second half of a season that saw Dortmund reach the Champions League final without him.
Terzic left the club after the UCL final and was replaced by Sahin, the ex-Dortmund player and Turkish-German manager who impressed at Antalyaspor in his first managerial post.
Giovanni Reyna injury comes at tough time with two new managers
Reyna played nine minutes for new boss Sahin in the Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt, then was not used in Week 2 at Werder Bremen. He’s behind Julian Brandt and Marcel Sabitzer in the attacking mid pecking order, and wingers Karim Adeyemi, Donyell Malen, and others are competing for time in wing positions.
Sahin said Reyna is “extremely sad,” but said he expects a healed Reyna to pick up where he left off when healthy “on a good path.”
But it’s not just his place in the club pecking order, as the United States men’s national team with have its first international camp under new boss Mauricio Pochettino in one month’s time.
Reyna is highly-regarded in USMNT circles but first impressions will matter a great deal and all attacking players will be hoping to secure favorable spots under Pochettino.
Hopefully the “few” weeks are truly just two or three for Reyna, who is one of the most electric creative talents the country’s produced this century.
