Gio Reyna finally has a new club. His career resurgence must start now.

Gio Reyna finally has a new club. Having barely played any club soccer over the last three seasons for one reason or another, the 22-year-old has finally escaped purgatory at Borussia Dortmund, joining Borussia Monchengladbach in a transfer deal worth a reported €7m.

A lot of time has passed since Reyna first broke through as a teenager at Dortmund. He was, once upon a time, widely seen as one of the brightest young talents anywhere in world soccer. Reyna was viewed as the next American superstar off the conveyor belt after the emergence of Christian Pulisic.

Injuries, however, derailed Reyna’s progress before other questions about the attacking midfielder surfaced. The 2022 World Cup and the scandal involving his family and US Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter was a turning point in how Reyna was seen by the wider soccer community.

There are whispers that Reyna is a difficult dressing room presence. Questions have been asked of his commitment levels and work ethic. Reyna was fit and available for a lot of the 2024/25 season, but played just 342 minutes in the Bundesliga over the course of the campaign.

The hope, from a USMNT perspective, was that Niko Kovac’s arrival at the Westfalenstadion would be a catalyst for Reyna to be given more game time. If anything, Kovac’s appointment saw Reyna fall further down the pecking order at Borussia Dortmund. He hasn’t started a club game since February and played just 12 minutes at this summer’s Club World Cup.

A fresh start was clearly needed and Gladbach have at least given him the chance at one. Until a week ago, it appeared Reyna was on his way to Parma before the Serie A club ultimately pulled out of the deal. It was therefore surprising that another move within the Bundesliga materialised so quickly.

Gladbach have finished 10th in four of the last five Bundesliga seasons. They are the definition of a mid-table team, but this is where there is a real opportunity for Reyna to become a key figure for his new team. Gerardo Seoane needs attacking difference-makers in the final third.

This was abundantly clear as Gladbach laboured to a 0-0 draw at home to promoted Hamburg in their opening game of the new season. Seoane set up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Kevin Stoger deployed as the number 10, but the 31-year-old failed to make much of an impact on the match. Reyna would be an upgrade on Stoger in that role.

“It’s a transfer where we normally have no chance,” said Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus. “But he wants to make a fresh start with us. That’s why we should be proud that the boy has chosen Borussia. [He can] play as a hanging striker, on the wing, at number 10, or directly behind a central striker.”

At Borussia Park, Reyna will link up with one of his closest friends in the shape of Joe Scally. Borussia Dortmund became a toxic environment for Reyna over time and so he surely hopes that being more comfortable in the dressing room will lead to better and more consistent performances on the pitch.

Reyna can’t afford to waste any more time. There’s now less than a year until the 2026 World Cup on home soil kicks off and the 22-year-old has a lot of work ahead of him to prove he deserves a spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad. At present, he is out of the picture for the USMNT.

While the talent and potential remains, it’s time for Reyna to put it all together on the pitch. Gladbach have given him a new platform to demonstrate his ability in a team that should play to his strengths, in a league he already knows well and in a dressing room where he has a close ally. It’s now or never for one of American soccer’s best prospects.