As Borussia Dortmund took on Mamelodi Sundowns in their second Club World Cup group stage fixture, Gio Reyna could only watch from the locker room at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. In fairness, he wasn't alone. Half of the Dortmund bench had joined him there, the German side watching their teammates toil in the scorching summer sun.
But that image - one that went viral on both sides of the Atlantic - summed up Reyna's position in Dortmund right now. It was, in effect, the perfect metaphor. Reyna the outcast, watching from afar, not even relevant enough to be on the bench.
And that's pretty much where the Reyna saga is these days. And yes, it is a saga. The Dortmund attacking midfielder is an immense talent. He is perhaps the most naturally gifted player in the USMNT setup. But at Dortmund, he has become, to put things generously, an afterthought. Niko Kovac clearly doesn't trust him even for garbage time minutes, let alone the high intensity grind of the Bundesliga that Reyna, on talent alone, is good enough to star in.
For a few years now, the story has been one of "How Reyna is going to turn things around at Dortmund." But now, transfer talk has kicked up for good. His Dortmund future was in doubt before. Now it just seems non-existent. A move is inevitable. Landing spots are tough to evaluate. Another Bundesliga club might make sense. A more permanent home for a lower level Premier League team could also work
Recently, two links have popped up: MLS and Serie A. LAFC and NYCFC have been mentioned in the domestic U.S. league. Parma seem a potential Serie A destination - with reports suggesting a deal for a $7 million switch could be in the works.
But for this iteration of Reyna, 22, full of quality but in dire need of a fresh start, MLS simply has to be his immediate future. It is the only way he can play his way into the USMNT picture. And, more broadly, it would seem to be a career-saving move for an immense talent steadily fading into irrelevance.