Gio Reyna at a crossroads, again: USMNT midfielder faces more change after Borussia Monchengladbach fire boss Gerardo Seoane

Perspective is everything here. There was a real jeopardy around where, exactly, Reyna would be playing his football this year. It was assumed that he would look for a way out with his contract dwindling and no apparent support from the manager. But in a confusing turn of events, he was named in the squad to the Club World Cup.

That he barely played wasn't an immense surprise, but it wasn't the act of a club trying to keep a player fit before they flog him to another team.

Of course, transfer talk picked up. A deal to Serie A strugglers Parma seemed to be sorted for around $4 million. But then that collapsed, leaving Reyna's future uncertain, again. Just as suddenly, Monchengladbach jumped. And it couldn't have been a better fit - at least, in theory. Here was a distinctly mid-table club that would offer plenty of time for rest between games due to their lack of European football.

They were close enough to his former home. And, perhaps most importantly from a USMNT point of view, they could offer plenty of playing time in a variety of positions. The club hierarchy waxed lyrical about Reyna's signing:

"It's a transfer where we normally have no chance, no chance, but he wants to make a fresh start with us," sporting director Roland Virkus said. "That's why we should be proud that the boy has chosen Borussia. [He can] play as a hanging striker, on the wing, at No. 10, or directly behind a central striker."

And in the early days, everything seemed sorted. Reyna wasn't involved in Monchengladbach's first game - the ink had barely dried on his contract by the time his new side had a scoreless draw with Hamburg. But he was subsequently used in an international break friendly against Schalke.

The video did the rounds on U.S. social media. It didn't matter that this game meant nothing, and a glut of starters for both sides were unavailable due to national team duties. Reyna was back. Well, back enough to convince Seoane that he was ready to be involved against Werder Bremen over the weekend.

Reyna played well. He started in his most familiar No. 10 position, connected some nice passes, and exploited those tiny pockets of space only he can navigate. His off ball work wasn't spellbinding, but for a footballer who hasn't been on the pitch consistently for years, it was a solid showing - enough, at least, to build some confidence.

But it was a pretty miserable afternoon for the side as a whole. They were battered, 4-0, at home by a team who are, in effect, their equals. After the game, the team walked up to their own ultras to be ceremoniously berated. Seoane was removed 24 hours later. 

There is no other way to frame this: Seoane's sacking was harsh. And on top of that, poorly timed. Monchengladbach had endured a miserable end to the 2024-25 season, winning none of their last seven fixtures. At one point, they might have snuck into the Europa League. By the end of it all, they looked like little more than a mid table team.

Fan reception wasn't great. After all, how could it be? They had been let down by their side, the dreams of returning to Europe folding in two pretty disastrous months (the thing omitted here is that Monchengladbach had to play both Dortmund and Bayern with the season on the line). Some called for the manager to be let go there and then. 

But the board kept faith, and handed Seoane a little cash to work with, too. They spent just €25M, but brought in two presumptive starters, and a backup center forward. These aren't the kinds of things you do if you're planning to fire someone. Furthermore, they sold well. Everything pointed towards something of a new era, with Seoane the guy to figure things out. 

As it turned out, it wasn't to be. Virkus admitted after the defeat that he would be evaluating the manager's future. He didn't need long. The club said they had "lost faith that a turnaround with Gerardo can succeed" in a statement that summed things up.

And so we arrive at the present. A few names are already cropping up associated with the Monchengladbach job. The early trendy speculation is on Pellegrino Matarazzo, an American with extensive coaching career in German soccer.

He would be a remarkably interesting appointment and, in theory, a good one for Reyna, too. He grew up in New Jersey, played college soccer for Columbia, and has coached both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim - cutting his teeth at the kind of mid-table sides that are of Monchengladbach's level these days.

He was supposedly in the mix for the USMNT job last year before they appointed Mauricio Pochettino. Matarazzo is tactically flexible but, historically, has relied on creative midfielders in a sort of 3-4-3-ish system - the kind of thing that could suit Reyna just fine.

Other names are bound to pop up in the coming days. It would seem to be logical that the board would not dismiss one manager if they had no replacement lined up. What, exactly, that means though, remains to be seen. 

Reyna has been, perhaps, phenomenally unfortunate. There have been times during both his U.S. and Dortmund careers where his commitment had been called into question, a remarkable talent who either wasn't willing to put in the hours for the team - or didn't have the right attitude to do so. The fallout between him, his father and Gregg Berhalter rattled the USMNT during and after the 2022 World Cup.

For once, things seemed to be going his way. Reyna made the right move, at the right time, convinced by the right manager and the right sporting director. So rarely in this sport do things fall into place. An optimist might suggest that this was as close as things come. And now, Reyna returns to a sense of stasis - this time of someone else's making. 

There is, admittedly, a chance that the next manager is a better fit, or believes in Reyna even more. Either way, the man who brought him in is gone. Reyna, once again, is in limbo.