‘Not going to work’ – USMNT star Gio Reyna told he made wrong transfer decision as Premier League relegation battle at Nottingham Forest ‘does not suit’ him

The United States international completed a move to the City Ground at the end of the winter window. He had been linked with teams in France, Italy and Spain, but decided that the Premier League would be his next port call of when severing ties with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund on a short-term agreement.

Ties to Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, are considered to have made the switch to Nottingham possible – as the Portuguese works closely with the Reds. But ex-USMNT star Taylor Twellman fears Reyna has picked a challenge that will deliver more questions than answers, especially ahead of an important summer of international action at the CONCACAF Nations League finals and 2024 Copa America.

Twellman has told Alexi Lalas’ ‘State of the Union’ podcast when asked if he is worried about Reyna and the 21-year-old’s current situation: “I am concerned. I’m concerned for multiple reasons. One, you change representation. When you change representation, obviously your contacts change. Who’s now representing him? That isn’t really public. I’d be intrigued to know who’s representing him. If you’re really leaving Dortmund for Forest when six weeks before that, four months before that, Sevilla was the one that everyone was telling me ‘that’s where he’s going to end up’. I get it, they’re in a relegation battle, but La Liga suits Giovanni Reyna. A relegation battle in the English Premier League does not suit Giovanni Reyna. I don’t care who you are and who’s trying to convince me on that – that’s not going to work.

"With what happened at the World Cup, I am concerned that Gio will now be chasing this all the way round trying to find himself, when this is the most important part of his player identification period of trying to understand who he is and who he wants to be. He is young enough to still have an unbelievable career, but these are the trying times as a player when you find out who you are and who you want to be. I don’t know if he is going to get that answer at Forest.

"I hope I’m wrong because that means it helps Gio, it helps the USMNT, but I feel like when we are previewing the Copa America, I think we are going to have the same conversation - where is Gio going to end up, what’s his best team, can he play in a system that doesn’t suit a 10, someone that is going to contribute on both sides? I think we are going to be having this conversation in four months, unfortunately, but I hope I’m wrong.”

Reyna has taken in two substitute appearances for Forest so far, totalling 29 minutes, and is yet to experience a Premier League win. He will be hoping to figure more prominently in a meeting with West Ham on Saturday, as Forest seek to put points on the board and pull away from relegation danger.