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Players in the U.S. men’s national team pool are entering what should be an active summer transfer period, both for those entrenched in the nucleus and those hoping to work their way in before the final World Cup roster decisions are made.
So in hopes of securing more playing time, finding a more amenable club environment or taking a step up in competition, plenty of U.S. players have some options to consider. Brenden Aaronson and Matt Turner, two members of that core nucleus, have already arranged for summer moves to the Premier League, with Aaronson leaving Salzburg for Leeds United and Turner departing the New England Revolution for Arsenal.
A player on the other end of the pool, one eyeing a late charge into the U.S. World Cup picture, is on the move as well, with right back Bryan Reynolds sealing the deal on a season-long loan from Roma to promoted Belgian top-flight side Westerlo. Reynolds’s rapid ascent plateaued after his move from FC Dallas to Roma in the winter 2021 transfer window, with playing time at the club virtually nonexistent before and especially after José Mourinho took charge following Paulo Fonseca’s departure.
He was able to move on loan to a different Belgian club, Kortrijk, for the last half of last season, and he made nine appearances (eight starts) and scored a goal in his time there.
Whether a hot start at Westerlo can vault Reynolds, who turns 21 at the end of the month, back into the U.S. picture in time for the World Cup in November remains to be seen. Sergiño Dest tops the list at a deep position for the U.S., with DeAndre Yedlin and Reggie Cannon next in line. Shaq Moore, Joe Scally and Brooks Lennon have also emerged as preferred options while Reynolds’s stature has stagnated. His last appearance for the U.S. was in a December 2021 friendly vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina outside of the FIFA calendar, and he did not appear at all in World Cup qualifying.
The first step to getting back into the mix for the U.S. would be a call-up for the last pre-World Cup camp in late September. U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USMNT would be playing Japan and Saudi Arabia in the final matches before group play begins roughly two months later.
