Nottingham Forest are reportedly in talks with Borussia Dortmund over a deal to sign Gio Reyna on an initial loan until the end of the season. The Premier League side want to include an option to buy, rather than an obligation, at the end of the season.
Nuno and co. are apparently working hard to get the deal done, but on Tuesday night it was suggested that details still needed to be finalised before that could happen. Forest's 3-2 defeat to Brentford last weekend saw the Bees leapfrog them in the table and push them down to 16th, just four points above the relegation zone, and 18th-place Luton have a game in hand. News of a breakthrough in the pursuit of Reyna, then, will be warmly welcomed at the City Ground.
Reyna agrees to join Forest
According to Sky Sport Germany's Florian Plettenberg, Forest have now reached an agreement with Reyna over the deal. They have come to a "total verbal" understanding, harnessing the "top relation" between his agent Jorge Mendes and manager Nuno.
The player is "keen to leave" Signal Iduna Park this month, but Forest still need to strike a deal with Dortmund as talks continue. The hope is that, if all goes well, they can finalise the transfer "in the next days" as we approach the 1 February deadline.
Sancho may lend Forest helping hand
Nuno was always likely to offer something of a trump card in this pursuit given that he himself, like Reyna, is a client of Mendes' Gestifute agency. His representatives therefore have a vested interest in getting a deal done.
Reyna joined Dortmund from the New York City FC academy in 2019 and has gone on to make 120 appearances for the club, scoring 16 goals and providing 17 assists. Having missed the start of the campaign through injury, he's played 13 times this season and featured in 10 of their last 12 Bundesliga games. However, his only league start in that sequence came in a 3-3 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt in late October, where he was substituted at half-time.
To make matters worse, Dortmund have just brought back Jadon Sancho on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season, narrowing his path to gametime even further. Reyna, who can play as either an attacking midfielder or a winger, has logged just 18 league minutes since Sancho arrived. He may have been hopeful of fighting his way back into the side before that deal, but you can understand why he now wants out.
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At the international level, Reyna has already reached 24 caps for the United States even at the age of 21, scoring seven times. The former US Soccer Young Player of the Year, he's twice been named in the Best XI following the CONCACAF Nations League Finals (2021, 2023). Forest, then, would be getting one of the very best American talents in the game, provided they can persuade Dortmund.
