USMNT star could be West Ham's bargain Cole Palmer

Tom Weber

• Updated: 16 Jan 2024 16:45 GMT
• 9 min read

Gio Reyna wants out of Borussia Dortmund.

The American star is fed up with his lack of game time and is reportedly looking to head for the exit. The arrival of Jadon Sancho has led to even more competition for a spot in Dortmund's attack and will only worsen the United States men's national team star's prospects of playing time.

It has been something of a fall from grace for Reyna in recent years. Fitness issues and his parents' spat with US boss Gregg Berhalter have been anything but helpful to a career that looked so promising at one point. Still only 21, it's far from over for Reyna, but it is evident that he must leave Dortmund for the sake of his career.

This term, the youngster has only featured in 320 minutes of football in all competitions. At the end of last season, that number stood at just 620 for the Bundesliga and at 440 the campaign before. Not since 2020/21 has Reyna been a regular fixture at Dortmund. In addition to his injury problems, there is also a question about simply what his best position is.

Is Reyna an attacking midfielder or a winger? He's a bit of both and while versatility can, of course, be something very positive, for Reyna, it has been a curse as the youngster has been unable to really feature in any one position consistently.

Reyna's next move

Cole Palmer is showing at Chelsea that being capable of playing centrally and out wide can be a good thing in the right system and indeed Reyna profiles similarly to the Blues star. While Palmer often drifts out on the right given that he is left-footed, Reyna does the opposite, but both are wide playmakers, according to data experts SciSports.

Reyna, however, simply has not featured consistently enough in recent seasons to truly get an idea of the type of player he is and can become. This is illustrated by the astonishing fact that the only reliable data SciSports have of him is from all the way back in 20/21 because he hasn't met the necessary threshold of playing at least 450 minutes in a position over the last three seasons.

Nevertheless, the data experts believe that the American can still be an exceptional player on his day and that he has significant potential. Indeed, if he fulfils his potential, he could become a key player for all of the Premier League's biggest hitters.

However, the current iteration of him is a far cry from the player he may yet become. Therefore, he is not being courted by the Arsenals and Liverpools of the world, but by Sevilla, Marseille and Champions League side Real Sociedad. Reyna, though, should snub all of them.

SciSports believe that Reyna would be better off playing in Serie A or the Premier League. His best-suited clubs, according to their Career Advice tool, are Roma, Inter and West Ham. A move to the Hammers would certainly be intriguing and make a lot of sense.

Due to the lack of a reliable striker at his disposal, David Moyes has had to tinker with his line-ups this season, playing Jarrod Bowen as a nine and Lucas Paqueta on the left wing. With the likes of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals potentially departing this month, Reyna would be a much-needed offensive reinforcement, being able to play on the left and in James Ward-Prowse's attacking midfield role.

Game time would, however, be a concern again for Reyna as he wouldn't be an automatic starter, though with the Hammers still competing on three fronts, the American would likely get more than enough minutes. So, ultimately, the problem would be less with West Ham and more with Reyna himself: can he stay fit? That is the great intangible and the one major concern about the USMNT prospect.

Reyna currently boasts an Estimated Transfer Value of €24.4 million, a massive decline from his 2021 peak of €50.3m. Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has already admitted that he is not sure whether Reyna will still be a BVB player come the end of the month, but it is not yet clear whether a January departure would be permanent or temporary.

For a transfer fee in the region of €25m to €30m, Reyna could be a gamble worth taking as he has the potential to be one lucky team's bargain Cole Palmer. After all, his talent has never been in doubt, but his injury record will scare off many a potential suitor.