'He's in the squad' - Gio Reyna told what he must do to make USMNT World Cup roster as Brad Friedel laments 'injury after injury after injury'

Reyna has taken on a new challenge at club level, with ties finally being severed with Borussia Dortmund following several transfer windows of intense speculation regarding his future. He is now on the books at Borussia Monchengladbach.

The plan is to find more regular game time there, with unfortunate fitness struggles leading to a slow slide being taken down the pecking order at Signal Iduna Park. Reyna has aired his excitement at making a fresh start.

Having decided to remain in Germany, following links to clubs across Europe, Reyna is looking for his domestic performances to secure more international recognition. There is a serious reward to aim at, with the United States set to be one of the co-hosts for FIFA’s flagship event in a matter of months.

Quizzed on what Reyna needs to do after enduring a turbulent time of late, ex-USMNT goalkeeper Friedel - speaking in association with the Casinobernie comparison site - told GOAL: “With Gio, a lot of unfortunate stuff from the last World Cup, then injury after injury after injury. Talented, talented player.

“For Gio, he needs minutes and he needs not to be injured. Then we can see before the World Cup if he is ready. If he is, if he has a run of four or five months with no injuries, playing lots of minutes, he’s in the squad.

“He’s a really talented player, one of the better ones we have. But he really does need to play. When I took the job at Besiktas, I was over at the Copa America and was watching. You could just tell there was something a little bit off. It’s not his ability, that is there. That’s not it. His body has unfortunately not cooperated with this sport.

“Hopefully for him it goes well. He’s a really good kid and I hope he just stays fit, gets a run of games and then it will be down to Mauricio [Pochettino] choosing him or not. I don’t like to see anybody get left out because of injury.”

Reyna has joined Gladbach on a contract through to 2028. He was handed a starting berth by them on debut against Werder Bremen, with 74 minutes of Bundesliga action taken in before being replaced in a disappointing 4-0 defeat.