Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has said that he has heard nothing about a desire on United States national team on Gio Reyna’s part to leave the Bundesliga club in this transfer window, adding that “he could become important for us” this season.
Reyna made 11 appearances for Dortmund in the first half of the season before being loaned to Nottingham Forest, where he saw little action and did not persuade the Premier League club to make the move permanent, prompting rumours Dortmund might seek to transfer him. But Kehl said that has not been the case.
“There are no other thoughts. There’s nothing on the table and I haven’t heard that the player wants to leave,” Kehl told Bild, who said he expects Reyna to stay this season under new head coach Nuri Sahin.
Reyna played in Saturday’s Bundesliga opener, going in at the 81st minute in the team’s 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Kehl said Reyna has a chance to grow into a role at Dortmund.
“He has to accept his role, free himself from it,” Kehl said. “It was clear when we had the talks in the summer that Gio wanted to take on this role, that there will be enough games in which we need him. We know that he has incredible abilities.”
“He worked on himself, worked on his stability, worked on his charisma,” Kehl said. “This clever turning between the lines and his goal threat — he has developed that further. Gio can still be very important for us this season.”
Reyna has two years left on his deal.
Dortmund play at Werder Bremen next Saturday before the international break. The U.S. will host Canada in Kansas City, Kansas, on Sept. 7 and New Zealand in Cincinnati three days later in a pair of friendlies.