USMNT star Reyna slammed for Nottingham Forest loan move

Cameron Smith

• 16 Feb 2024 07:21 GMT
• 3 min read

Giovanni Reyna has been criticised for joining Nottingham Forest on loan from Borussia Dortmund during the January transfer window.

The 21-year-old made just one Bundesliga start in the first-half of the 2023-24 campaign and opted for a short-term Premier League move in January, despite interest from France, Italy and Spain.

Reyna has played just 29 league minutes since arriving at the City Ground, with Morgan Gibbs-White currently the preferred attacking midfielder under Nuno Espirito Santo.

The USMNT star now faces an uphill battle to become an integral member of Nottingham Forest’s squad as they look to avoid relegation back down to the Championship.

What has been said about Giovanni Reyna’s loan move to Nottingham Forest?

Taylor Twellman, a former USA international, believes that Reyna’s decision to join Forest was the wrong one. He told Alexi Lalas’ podcast (as per GOAL): “I am concerned. I’m concerned for multiple reasons.

“One, you change representation. When you change representation, obviously your contacts change. Who’s now representing him? That isn’t really public. I’d be intrigued to know who’s representing him.

“If you’re really leaving Dortmund for Forest when six weeks before that, four months before that, Sevilla was the one that everyone was telling me ‘that’s where he’s going to end up’. I get it, they’re in a relegation battle, but La Liga suits Giovanni Reyna.

“A relegation battle in the English Premier League does not suit Giovanni Reyna. I don’t care who you are and who’s trying to convince me on that - that’s not going to work.

“With what happened at the World Cup, I am concerned that Gio will now be chasing this all the way round trying to find himself, when this is the most important part of his player identification period of trying to understand who he is and who he wants to be.

“He is young enough to still have an unbelievable career, but these are the trying times as a player when you find out who you are and who you want to be. I don’t know if he is going to get that answer at Forest.

“I hope I’m wrong because that means it helps Gio, it helps the USMNT, but I feel like when we are previewing the Copa America, I think we are going to have the same conversation - where is Gio going to end up, what’s his best team, can he play in a system that doesn’t suit a 10, someone that is going to contribute on both sides?

“I think we are going to be having this conversation in four months, unfortunately, but I hope I’m wrong.”

Nottingham Forest host West Ham at 3pm on Saturday, with Reyna hoping to make his first start for the club.