This is the post's translation (hat tip @gogorath). In my 50+ years of following football I've read nothing - absolutely nothing - that comes anywhere close to it. Calling it an assassination, character or otherwise, would be a milquetoast take "Giovanni Reyna turned out to be a letdown for Gladbach—and not because of his susceptibility to injury. Borussia is putting an end to the misalignment with the American after just one year, with no hesitation. It is also a correction of a risk the club should never have taken. The partnership between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Giovanni Reyna, who transferred to French first-division club Racing Strasbourg on Tuesday, lasted less than 365 days. With the sale of the attacking player, Gladbach is calling off a gamble that was already a major risk last summer—a risk that, in hindsight, Borussia should never have taken. Manager Roland Virkus, in particular, agreed to the deal, but the club’s governing bodies [i.e. FO and elected directors] also approved the transfer of a contract running through 2028. The temptation that Borussia succumbed to was great and tied to a hope: that Reyna, the highly talented player who, as an American “wunderkind,” once seemed out of reach for a club like Gladbach, could get back into form at a struggling Bundesliga club and give his market value a new boost. The fact that Borussia fell for an expensive sham wasn't just due to Reyna's susceptibility to injury, but also to his work ethic, which he brought to Gladbach after a season in which he had previously played only 341 Bundesliga minutes for BVB. It took months before Eugen Polanski and the coaching staff were satisfied with the 23-year-old's fitness. “I saw qualities today that I hadn’t seen like that before,” Polanski said in December. Reyna was in the starting lineup four times last season and logged 509 minutes of playing time—a sobering tally. It makes sense that Borussia isn’t taking the gamble on Reyna and his potential into a second year. Better to “cash out” right away than to “crash out” next year—in other words, better to take the money now than to spend another year kicking yourself and possibly end up empty-handed. Following Reyna’s participation in the World Cup, another club, in Strasbourg, is looking to sign him. The fact that an investor from the U.S. runs the club—and that money is a bit more plentiful there than in Gladbach—likely played a decisive role in the transfer. Borussia will receive a transfer fee in the range of three to four million euros—including add-ons. Borussia [Monchengladbach] has also secured a share of any future transfer proceeds. Since the transfer is taking place without any profit for Gladbach, BVB’s share of future transfer proceeds is worthless. In Reyna’s case, Borussia had to pay for one thing above all else: a costly lesson."
𝘑𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘦…𝙀𝙩 𝙟𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙚́𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙫𝙧𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙖 𝙈𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙪 💙▸ #MercatoRCSA | #120ansDePassion pic.twitter.com/Y1jr6ad6nu— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (@RCSA) August 4, 2026
It was way more than implied. A player who puts in all the work to get fit but cannot meet the fitness levels required, the coaches and the media team will always say so publicly and praise his work ethic, again publicly. They will also make damn sure to brief reporters accordingly, off the record. What this looks like is club staff who've put in an hell of a lot of work to help him and been repeatedly and very badly let down going "finally!! At last I can let loose"
Or De-Stras? Turtle Racing! Gio Reyna at Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace {RCS} (Ligue 1) The BlueCo and Whites: Gio Reyna at Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace {RCS} (Ligue 1)
The one quote in the article was extremely vague, the rest is conjecture. Sorry, but it just look to me like someone wants to blame an American for their struggling mediocre German soccer team. The line about the American investors in Strasbourg having money was telling. Gio was a minor gamble that didn't pay off and they mostly recouped their costs after a year, cry me a river.
Yeah, that felt like a lot noise about very little. I'm no BMG expert but I'd bet my bottom mark that they've made way worse buys in recent years.
I have no idea of the article has everything right but clearly the article absolutely nowhere connects last season’s poor performance to Reyna this would be quite ridiculous given Reyna’s meager playing time anyway neither was the club one man short without Reyna (Gladbach still has too many players for his spot) nor was there any expectation to 'rock' the league pressing on Gios’s shoulders when the former director signed him he looked towards media and supporter's-scene looking for applause (look I've signed a player we could have never signed before!) but to his astonishment right from the start absolutely nobody got enthusiastic: there was injury-prone-scepticism all over and only a few like me who like to see technically skilled ‚real‘ soccer instead of pressing battles hoped that this could work and add finesse in the midterm future… but overall the whole Reyna-topic was pushed backwards pretty soon sorry, but the ‚scapegoating‘ is a product of your fantasy (and also the anti-americanism if I translate your post correctly)
If it looks that way to you, maybe a visit to an optamologist is in order. Reyna has passed at least 3 medicals - he will pass this one, won't he? - and innumerable fitness tests, only for 5 coaches at 3 different clubs in 2 countries to give up on him, if they picked him at all Now, fresh off a WC with PT in 5 games, scoring once, not one other team is prepared to beat a measly 3 million euros, the kind of sum a League One club pays with little hesitation. The deal is also for 5 years - for a player with widely reported fitness "challenges" who has played just 1,120 league minutes over the last 2 seasons (510 last season and 610 (BL! and UEFA) the season before). I'd say alluding to the wealth of billionaire-backed club ready to bet 8 million on a serial under-performer - when he performs at all - only logical. After all, billionaire-owned clubs sometimes write that much off if the owner approved the bet because sugar daddies can do that. Fan-owned clubs can't. As the head of the BL's financial licensing office observed once "no market can be more rational than its most irrational member". YMMV
Please provide a link to other scathing articles written about players who barely played for your team last year. I agree Gio wasn't viewed as an important piece of the puzzle for your team so, why write such a hostile article then? What is this reporter angry about? An injury prone player was signed for a low transfer fee and didn't work out, so what. If you want to write a hit piece and have evidence you, put it in the piece. All we got was one vague quote so it is reasonable to assume there is nothing there.
I have no expectations for Gio anymore and I was surprised he was selected for the WC team. He's had a series of injury problems, looks to have lost a step. He's clearly not going to live up to early career hype. I still don't have to like it when a reporter or columnist trashes him for no reason. As I said in my other post, If you want to write a hit piece and have evidence you, put it in the piece. All we got was one vague quote so it is reasonable to assume there is nothing there.
This really is the end of the line for his hopes of a top level Euro career. The next lower rungs on the ladder are pretty small time...
Perhaps the reporter has heard enough things in private to come to really dislike the player, and now that Reyna's gone our reporter is free to say what he thinks. He wouldn't be the first person to begrudge the player for his attitude and effort.
It does seems like a big swerve to hit a mid-value NPC (ok HPC - Hardly!) Seems like BMG had a lot of issues last season. Capology (fwiw) has him 16/17 for annual gross salary on BMG. Any moderately attentive footie fan in Germany knew his history. Any highly attentive footie fan in Germany knew his German and US history and controversy. Seems an oddly petty swing to take, but reporters can be odd ducks too.
Believe said it before, but after the awful start Gladbach cleaned house. They brought in Roeven Schroeder as Head of Sport in October. Schroeder came in from Red Bull. Flat out said this past season was about survival then they'd reset... also would be surprised if they didn't lean into the gagenpress now. The project changed overnight. While Gio's injury history doesn't help him, things changed. I'm not going to pretend I know alot about Hugo Oliveria as a manager, but the little I've been able to find, he seems to preach build up out of a 4 1 2 3, and is more possession based. It does seem like a better fit for Gio.
From my point of view there is some mis- and overinterpretation regarding the RP-article. Yes, there is an unproven accusation towards the Reyna side. But vague as it might be. It isn’t exactly new. The lack of focus or however you might describe it was already a topic at his former club. Whose big boss even publicly talked about it in TV. I didn’t take this seriously. Never liked the guy. Thought that with getting matured focus would come. And didn’t the ‚creative‘ sort of players always need some sort of long leash? But when you read the RP article a second time it’s pretty obvious that it isn’t really about Gio. Same with yesterday’s TORFABRIK article: they even ask if the - at this time - unsecure and safety-conscious (that’s from me) looking Polanski just hadn’t the guts to field him. From the view of media and supporters at the Lower Rhine Reyna is just a small piece of the big picture and therefore totally ineffective as a scapegoat. He’s just ‚used‘ as the starter to critcize the reckless transfer at a time when the position wasn’t vacant and the club couldn’t afford it. Which itself is the starter to attack the former director of sports who executed this gamble. Who again is the starter to fault the club officials which gave him free rein. A line of misjudgements like this over several seasons made Gladbach a club fighting against relegation. From another point of view you may dislike this ‚use‘ but this is what it’s all about. Also the several ‚money‘ aspects need some clarification. And the connected/alleged 'whining' when actually all media express relief. But this is off-topic and I’m running out of time anyway. I guess BMWdeuce has it right: Straßbourg most likely is much better for Gio. But could also be his last chance in Europe one might add. Let’s hope he shines. I do.
I think this point above is exactly what DCU and I are reacting to - anyone who paid any real (read, "we're gonna spend some actual money on the guy") attention to Reyna knew there were serious questions about his work ethic/ability to stay fit. It was/is perhaps unclear how much was health, how much was attitude/character, and how much was drive in the face of injury/rehab but there were lots of suggestions it was as much Reyna's "mentality" as Reyna's body. So to DC and me it seems weird - and kind of bogus - that a supposedly knowledgeable footie writer would somehow go after the 16/17th highest paid player on team who didn't see any significant minutes as somehow emblematic of a poor season and give him the "good riddance" treatment - except as evidence of FO failure. In other words, all footie-knowledgeable folks in the US knew the Reyna rep. Some felt it was misguided or untrue, but all knew the whisperings. To be shocked and angry the rep was somewhat true just seems weird and kinda nasty for, I guess "reasons". Anyway - I never wish ill on players who are not overt jerks, and while Reyna seems not to have the drive you'd like in someone with his talent, I also know mentally recovering from injuries and dashed expectations can be tough. There's a good chance he goes the route of Rubio Ruben, Soto, Pierie, Wood or other US prospects derailed by a combo of injuries, bad luck, and in some cases, unwillingness to do the work needed. But I think there's also a possibility he pushes through and has more of a Tim Weah or maybe Miazga trajectory - lowered career expectations, maybe never fully starring at the top levels but still kicking a ball and getting paid for a lot of years.
blah.. blah..blah.... Let's get to the real important things like an updated thread title Qui Qui Giovanni: Reyna @ Strasburg Maître G': Gio Reyna @ Strasburg C'est la G: Gio Reyna @ Strasburg
Career in de Stas... bourg; Reyna looks for Frank reassessment. More sweet whine: Reyna set to complain in Strasbourg