Edin Terzic on Gio Reyna and Borussia Dortmund's plans for the new season
Edin Terzic believes that patience is key with Gio Reyna as the Borussia Dortmund head coach looks to incorporate the USA youngster into an exciting new side.
Reyna endured a hugely frustrating campaign in 2021/22, with hamstring problems forcing him to miss over 30 matches through injury.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder managed two goals and one assist in the 10 Bundesliga matches he did feature in, so Terzic is hoping to ease him back to full fitness over pre-season.
"Gio was out for a long time," Terzic told media at the club's training camp. "He's a young guy who has had to deal with a huge number of setbacks in the last 12 months.
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"We want to make sure that he doesn't suffer another setback now, that he regains confidence in himself and his body, and that he has fun playing football again.
"That's why we prefer to take a more cautious approach - because it's about him staying with us for a very, very long time."
The recently appointed Terzic knows all about Reyna's talents, having served as interim head coach when the 2020 US Soccer Young Male Player of the Year featured 46 times across all competitions in 2020/21. He will be counting on the 2022 Golden Boy nominee being ready to play his part in helping fresh recruits like Karim Adeyemi and Sebastien Haller to fire in attack.
The Dortmund defence should also be more stable this year following the signings of Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck, but Terzic refused to be drawn on what his side could achieve in 2022/23. Instead the boyhood BVB fan - who led the club to DFB Cup glory in 2020/21 - promised to build a team worth watching.
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"We're not going to talk about what will happen in May of next year," the 39-year-old said. "Instead we want to prepare really well for the season and focus on the content of our game step-by-step.
"We just want to produce good and consistent football. We want to thrill our fans in every game so that they can't wait to see us play again."
Dortmund's first chance to wow their supporters in a competitive encounter will come in a DFB Cup tie against third-division 1860 Munich on 29 July. Their opening Bundesliga match of 2022/23 follows a week later when they host fellow title and top-four rivals Bayer Leverkusen on 6 August.
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