Revealed: How Nottingham Forest beat Fiorentina to Gio Reyna loan transfer – with USMNT star opting for Premier League move over Serie A switch

The United States international playmaker was on the move as the January transfer window swung shut. Borussia Dortmund opened themselves up to offers, with a loan agreement eventually pushed through after extending the 21-year-old’s contract in Germany.

Reyna had attracted interest from across Europe, with teams in Italy and France also said to be keen, but he ended up embracing a Premier League challenge at the City Ground. That switch impacted a number of other clubs, with Cagliari unable to lure Antonin Barak away from Fiorentina as the Serie A outfit were outmanoeuvred in their bid for Reyna.

Cagliari sporting director Nereo Bonato has told Radiolina’s Il Cagliari in Diretta: “At club level and with the boy [Barak], there were all the agreements. It was an operation that was also suitable on an economic level. There was [Genoa star Albert] Gudmundsson and Reyna who were Fiorentina’s two big targets and we had seen in the Viola managers the desire to get there at all costs. Unfortunately, Nottingham Forest made a higher offer for Reyna and Genoa preferred to keep Gudmundsson. We had to adapt to these choices.”

Reyna has now followed in the footsteps of his father - former Manchester City and Sunderland midfielder Claudio – by heading to England. He made his Forest debut off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth and will be hoping to make his home bow on Saturday when the Reds play host to Newcastle.