da 888： The midfielder's Premier League move comes with risks, but he can look to a familiar face for a blueprint on how to bounce back from adversity

da poker： A talented young American leaving a European super club to join a U.S. men's national team teammate at a struggling Premier League side… where have we heard this before? It happened just last season with Weston McKennie and now, as we head into the business end of the 2023-24 campaign, Gio Reyna is now back in England.

The deal was wrapped up on Wednesday, with Reyna, in desperate need of playing time after seeing minutes at Borussia Dortmund dry up, joining Nottingham Forest. The playing time should be there for him, but whether the move pays off is anything but a sure thing.

By joining Forest, Reyna has walked straight into a relegation battle. As things stand, Nuno Espirito Santo's side are just two points above safety and those in charge of the club will hope that Reyna will make the difference that leads to their survival.

McKennie walked into a similar situation last year, joining a Leeds team that, after his arrival, imploded. Reyna will hope that his move to the Premier League goes nowhere near as wrong and, realistically, it's almost impossible for things to get as ugly for Reyna as it did for McKennie.

But that's the negative side. The positives will be what Reyna is looking for, and the rejuvenated McKennie gives him a pretty clear blueprint for how to turn a midseason Premier League loan into a career-altering launchpad.

Getty ImagesThe need for a move

After nearly a full year, it had been made crystal clear: at this point, Edin Terzic just doesn't rate Reyna as one of his better players. He may have high hopes for him for the future but in this results-oriented business, Terzic believed in other options at Dortmund.

You can't blame him. Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi, Donyell Malen and Marco Reus are legit internationals. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Youssoufa Moukoko have all the potential in the world. And that's without even mentioning Jadon Sancho. Those spots behind the attacker are looking pretty filled up.

It's what led to Reyna making just 11 appearances in the Bundesliga, with only one start this season. A total of 271 minutes in league play simply isn't enough.

Reyna is talented, his play with the USMNT has proved that, but, at 21, he is not quite at the level needed to start for Dortmund at this point in time. That brings us to a crossroads for a player who can be good enough in the future but needs minutes to get there.

Enter Nottingham Forest, who will give Reyna the chance he needs.

AdvertisementGetty/GOALA deal comes together

For a while, Reyna's future was up in the air. It felt like a move away from Dortmund wouldn't come to fruition until Nottingham Forest eventually came in, making the deal happen ahead of the close of the January window.

Until about 24 hours before, Reyna's future looked to be at Dortmund. Terzic said as much, although, with hindsight, that may just have been to force Forest's hand.

"Gio is a fantastic player. Of course, he’s not happy when he’s not playing," Terzic said earlier this week. "You could see that Gio is capable of influencing the game from the bench [during the 3-1 win over Bochum]. He was very confident on the ball, managed to create a few dangerous situations, but was a bit unlucky with his finishing in one or two situations."

He added: "I expect him to be available to me on Friday. I haven’t heard anything else. Gio is under contract, Gio is our player and did well when he came on today."

Reyna wasn't in that famous Black and Gold on Friday, though, having already swapped teams. To get the deal over the line, Forest agreed to a loan move with no option to buy. Prior reports said the Premier League side were persistent in getting that buy option – and not getting it certainly changes the perception of this move.

Getty ImagesForest's gruelling relegation battle

You could almost hear the collective groan from USMNT fans on social media.

"Nottingham Forest? Oh no…"

A Premier League club in a relegation battle, made worse by the fact a potential points deduction hangs over their heads. At any point, Forest's season could go sideways and, if it does, that'll end their Premier League stay.

They've already fired one coach in Steve Cooper. They replaced him with Espirito Santo, a manager who is in desperate need of a reputation rebuild of his own. There is no guarantee of survival here.

You can add in Matt Turner's experience, too. To be fair, most of the USMNT goalkeeper's struggles have been self-inflicted, a series of mistakes that have contributed to the club's struggles. Turner, though, has never quite felt the love from Forest, who signed another international goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos, just weeks after bringing him in from Arsenal. They brought in another one, Matz Sels, just this week. Turner's time already seems to be nearing its end.

So why would Reyna pick Forest? Given the links to clubs like Marseille, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Monaco and Benfica, why in the world would he walk into a situation that could go so, so wrong?

Getty ImagesA chance to play but with warning signs

Reyna's only priority this winter: find somewhere where he can play. Not sporadically – frequently.

Forest have a typical front three consisting of Anthony Elanga, Nicolas Dominguez and Chris Wood. Because of that, minutes on the wing may be harder to come by. The thing is, Reyna doesn't want to play on the wing. Long-term, he sees himself as a No.10, or perhaps a No.8.

The No.10 spot, though, is occupied. Morgan Gibbs-White has started all but one match. Unless Nuno changes formation, Reyna's best bet may be in one of those wing positions.

Still, there is that chance the Portuguese manager does switch formation to accommodate Reyna. Maybe Gibbs-White shifts a little deeper into midfield as more of a No.8, or Reyna plays in that role. During his time at Wolves, Nuno often deployed two No.10s, and we could very well see a similar sort of setup now that he has more options in that position at Forrest.

The point is this: there are no guarantees, but there are opportunities. Reyna's move to Forest isn't loaded with locked-in playing time but, unlike Dortmund, there's a path forward.

If he plays up to his potential, this could be a win-win-win scenario: Forest get a player who can help them avoid the drop, Reyna gets the playing time he needs and Dortmund get a returning player with a new lease of life or, at the very least, an inflated price tag if things go that way.