Remember the name: Giovanni Reyna
Born: 13 Nov. 2002
Nationality: American
Position: Attacking midfielder
Club career: Borussia Dortmund (2019-)
American teen sensation Giovanni Reyna was born in Sunderland almost 18 years ago. Why Sunderland, you might ask. Well, because his father Claudio – Rangers and Man City fans of a certain age will remember him well – was playing for the Mackems at the time. Reyna’s mum, Danielle Egan, is, like Claudio, a former U.S. international. Football is in Gio’s blood – he’s also named after Giovanni von Bronckhorst, Claudio’s former team-mate at Rangers.
Having starred in New York City FC’s youth teams, Reyna signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2019. He made his Bundesliga debut in January 2020, aged 17 years and 66 days. Less than a month later, this lovely goal against Werder Bremen saw him become the youngest ever scorer in the German Cup:
Giovanni Reyna becomes the youngest goalscorer in #DFBPokal history, and it's a strike the American will remember for a long time ✨ pic.twitter.com/YQPLihzq5l
— The DFB-Pokal (@DFBPokal_EN) February 4, 2020
This season, Reyna is really starting to motor. He laid on three assists in Borussia’s 4-0 win against Freiburg last weekend, capping a performance of remarkable maturity – his passing, movement and work rate were all superb. In particular, his link-up play with striker Erling Haaland showed huge promise. Haaland calls his younger team-mate ‘The American Dream’, which is so far the wittiest thing the Norwegian has ever said (not a competitive field, admittedly).
Gio Reyna is the first Dortmund player since Marco Reus in December 2016 to set up three goals in one game 🐝⭐ pic.twitter.com/0UjlpCxvAj
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) October 3, 2020
Early days of course, but Reyna could turn out to be the best player America has produced. Via Tyne and Wear, no less.