The trend of American soccer players heading to Italy looks to be picking up. After Weston McKennie moved to Juventus and Bryan Reynolds joined Roma, former FC Dallas defender and United States men's national team talent Reggie Cannon is a target for Serie A side Spezia, sources told CBS Sports on Sunday.
Cannon, 22, joined Portuguese club Boavista before the season and has earned rave reviews, catching the eyes of teams in Italy, France, Germany and England, among others. The Chicago-born right back has 30 appearances for Boavista this season and was critical in the team's 1-0 win over Portimonense on Saturday to greatly boost their chances of avoiding relegation. Spezia, meanwhile, have just avoided relegation in Serie A.
Sources tell CBS Sports that there is a 99 percent chance he'll move from Boavista this summer. The initial plan was for him to spend a season at the club and then go to Ligue 1 club Lille, but that is unlikely to happen at this point, sources said. The collapse of an agreement with Lille has left Boavista in a spot where they can't afford to keep him, sources said. The deal fell apart after Lille's former owner, Gerard Lopez, sold the club.
As for Cannon's current season, those at the club have long been impressed with his physical attributes, but the biggest improvement has been viewed as mentally. He is considered to be much stronger mentally, having grown while facing more high-pressure matches than his time in MLS with Boavista fighting for their first-division lives.
While Spezia are the first to register an official interest in the player, they aren't expected to be the last.
CBS Sports will have more on Cannon's situation as information becomes available. Next season, Paramount+ will be your new home to watch Serie A in the United States.
