United States men's international Gio Reyna could be only days away from making his Nottingham Forest debut and officially becoming part of the Premier League when the Tricky Trees square off against Bournemouth on Sunday. After struggling for playing time with Borussia Dortmund in Germany, Reyna has joined Forest on loan until the end of the season, where he talked about how excited he is about the prospect of working under head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and the staff.
The Premier League, of course, is not unknown to Reyna, whose father played in the league with both Sunderland and Manchester City. And, in an interview with his new club, Reyna talked about how players on his dad's former club influenced his game.
"I always used to watch Man City growing up, I used to love Samir Nasri, I think he was an amazing player and I try to take bits of everyone's game but Samir Nasri and Kevin De Bruyne now [influenced me]."
It will be a grind joining Forest as they're only two points above the drop zone in the Premier Leauge and Reyna will have to integrate into life at the club quickly in order to break into the first team, but he will have the additional benefit of joining his fellow USMNT teammate Matt Turner at the club. Reyna spoke about that connection during his first interview for the club.
"It's always nice to have Americans around and I'm sure he's going to help me settle in quickly here and he's a great guy," Reyna said about Turner. "I haven't seen him yet, but I'm really looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the team"
Ready to attack the @premierleague 👊
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 1, 2024
Gio's first Forest interview is in! 🎙
That process to settle in will be critical as overnight Nottingham Forest has become the center of attention for Americans ahead of the Copa America during the summer of 2024. Turner is expected to be the starting goalkeeper while Reyna is pushing to be a regular member of the midfield which his performances at Forest will determine. Reyna can bring a dynamic presence to the midfield but it will depend on how he can work with Morgan Gibbs-White to determine if his tenure there will be successful.
"Going forward I like to be around the goal, around the danger area creating assists, creating goals," Reyna said. "Just creating opportunities for the team to score and be successful going forward, I pride myself on being able to do a bit of everything going forward so I'm looking forward to helping the team and show my quality."
Only scoring 27 goals, which is the sixth lowest tally in the Premier Leauge, Forest will need a little bit of everything from Reyna and to help, his arrival does come alongside the return of striker Taiwo Awoniyi who has scored five goals and assisted two more in only 11 matches this season.
Having already played in the Champions League with Dortmund and been involved in a title race and the World Cup, if Reyna can help Forest speed away from the relegation zone, it will help him take the next step in his soccer development. Reyna is a soccer player with the world at his feet if he can perform under the bright lights of the Premier League, options for what he wants to do in the future could be limitless.
