In a recent podcast, Borussia Dortmund's CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, spoke on which young players could follow in the footsteps of Pulisic and Sancho: "The young Giovanni Reyna may also be a player in this category in three to four years." https://www.derwesten.de/sport/fuss...n-sancho-wird-giovanni-reyna-id226772915.html
Dortmund also seems to be in a little bit of a diff position in terms of wing talent. Not sure they’ve had a stock quite as deep in last 3-4 years. They’ve had just as good talent but they’re deep now.
Well, Pulisic is three years ahead of him, so to get in Pulisic's current category could take a few years.
Exactly what I thought. He may break in sooner than that, but he'll have to show and prove for a couple of seasons like Puli and Sancho have done before he gets into their current category.
According to the match report on the club's website he did: The 16-year-old from the New York City FC Academy, who this time took the position on the offensive left wing, finished off the first constructive attack with a 1-0 lead. https://nachwuchs.bvb.de/Teams/U19/News/U19253
Maybe OT but In this file photo taken March 2, 2019, Nürnberg midfielder Hanno Behrens (L) and Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams (R) vie for the ball during a Bundesliga football match in Germany. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin will kick off the Bundesliga season Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. This season — the 57th for the German league — 11 Americans and two Canadians will feature among the 549 registered first-team players. Players from the United States make up 3.8% of all players in the league, according to Transfermarkt, and together with Spain are the seventh most represented nation in Germany’s top flight. U.S. players Weston McKennie (Schalke), John Anthony Brooks (Wolfsburg), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Zack Steffen (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) and Canadian Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) are the most recognizable names. “Those players are just the spearhead,” Arne Rees, Vice President Strategies for the Americas, told Pro Soccer USA. “The next generation of Americans, who are still in the Bundesliga academies, they are the ones to watch from what I hear. There are some potential superstars that could form the spine of the USA 2026 World Cup team. It is a story that we want to tell.” Rees added that “German clubs like to work with” Major League Soccer academies in the U.S. and cited Bayern Munich’s partnership with FC Dallas as an example. As a result of that connection, Bayern was able to acquire Chris Richards. The 19-year-old will start the season with Bayern’s reserve team, Bayern Amateure, in the German third division, but there are expectations for the defender to feature in the first team at some point this season.
Thanks for posting. With that last bit, the "real" place for this is the Chris Richard's thread. Hopefully he makes his debut like they suggest. And of course hopefully Gio one of the unamed superstars and makes his as well.
For Gio, I think the expectation should be: 2019/20: Start with U-19s, see how he does, maybe get moved up to U-23s for a look later in the season; 2020/21: Start with U-23s and again, maybe make some bench appearances, and/or playin cup matches later in the season; 2021/22: On the cusp of the first team, shuttle back and forth a bit to start; but hopefully settle into a sub role, cup starter, rotational squad player by season's end; and, 2022/23: Rotational starter, or he gets swooped by someone else for big money, it could go either way None of this is a sure thing. Players get demoted between squads just as often as they get promoted. That being said, Dortmund are a club unafraid of giving a teenager minutes with the first team, it just is unlikely to happen this season (unless he goes berserk with the U-19s). If he plays well, I expect a steady progression up the ladder, knowing that the closer one gets to the first team, the bigger each step is going to be.
Fair enough, but he's still going to have to put his time in, shuttling back and forth between various lower level teams, before becoming a full time player. Whatever those teams might be, Watzke is clearly driving at the point that it often takes 3-4 years for a young player like him to really become a first team player. I'll be ecstatic if he can do that ahead of schedule.
Borussia Dortmund's U-19s played at home against FC Köln today and lost 0-2. Reyna started and went the full 90 minutes. According to the match report on the BVB website, he moved to a central position after halftime and "staged some fine attacks" but ultimately was unlucky.
“Various” isn’t true though. He will only play for the u19 or senior teams. Maybe he gets a sniff this year, maybe not. But there isn’t a pyramid of teams he’s going through at all so this is wrong.
It sounds pretty important to you that it is ONLY the two teams, which is at best myopic. It's nitpicking, and completely misses the point I was trying to make. There is a bigger picture, progression up the chain is still possible, e.g. early DFB Pokal games are often a conduit for blooding youngsters, and he can at any time get sent back down. He can also get stuck in second gear, and not get moved up at all, or given the opportunities afforded to other young talent. You say he wouldn't play for Dortumund's U-23s, but can you really predict that one with 100% certainty what is going to happen to him? FWIW, the various competitions are distinct; DFB Pokal, Bundesliga and Champion's League, each one has its own roster. So, in a sense, they are different teams. Players who play in one competition might never get to appear in the others; even if eligible, they wouldn't be selected.
You're right he could ceiling out, get a few looks here and there, rotate through the U-23s for a season, and go out on loan to some B2 or Regionaliga outfit, before getting cut loose. Not every 18 year old is a Jaden Sancho or Christian Pulisic. The U-23 team has a lot of players with birth years in 1998-2000 range. What is wrong is to assume that the CEO of Dortmund is talking out of his ass. Whether or not Reyna is able to beat the odds, and I do mean "beat the odds," to succeed and find a place in the first team of a perennial top Bundesliga team and Champions League challenger, he's still going to have to put his time in and prove that he is capable of succeeding. That will include getting tested at various levels of competition. It is reasonable to also expect that he won't always be moving up. But if you want to get hung up on it, feel free. I'm done with it.
I think the issue people are taking is that the typical route for a youth star at BVB is to go straight from U19's to the full senior squad. BVB-II is a bit of a wasteland. I don't think Pulisic ever even played there.
No I was just making it clear that top level prospects and future first team players at Dortmund (almost) never suit up for the u23/reserves team at all - they jump from the u19 to 1st team (like Pulisic) or they get loaned out (like Felix Passlack). Or they never make it at all. Your post made it seem that a well traveled/common path at Dortmund is a progression of u19 to u23 to first team which is not the case.