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Borussia Dortmund and USA playmaker Gio Reyna is nearing his return from a hamstring injury. - © Imago
Borussia Dortmund and USA playmaker Gio Reyna is nearing his return from a hamstring injury. - © Imago
bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund and USA's Gio Reyna eyes pre-season injury comeback

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Giovanni Reyna is hoping to be involved when Borussia Dortmund begin on-field, pre-season training on 29 June, after the USMNT star's injury-hit 2021/22 campaign.

Reyna missed 32 of Dortmund's 46 matches in all competitions in 2021/22, with a series of muscle injuries bringing the attacking midfielder's season to a premature conclusion in April.

The 19-year-old was not included in USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter's most recent roster, instead spending the vacation period readying himself for the new campaign by following an individually tailored training programme.

Watch: Gio Reyna's season of setbacks

Dortmund began preparations for the 2022/23 campaign under new head coach Edin Terzic with performance diagnostics tests on Monday and Tuesday this week while the Black-and-Yellows will take to the training pitch for the first time on Wednesday. According to the club, "The internationals, who were in action until mid-June and are still on holiday, and the injured players were absent," from diagnostic tests this week.

BVB have pre-season friendlies against Lüner SV, Dynamo Dresden and SC Verl pencilled in for the early part of July, before travelling to Switzerland for a summer training camp, where they will face Valencia and Villarreal.

Should he make strides in his comeback to full fitness, Reyna - a 2022 Golden Boy nominee - could make his competitive return when Die Schwarzgelben take on 3. Liga outfit 1860 Munich in the DFB Cup first round on 29 July. They begin their Bundesliga season against Bayer Leverkusen a week later.

The new season will be Reyna's fourth in the Bundesliga, since his debut in January 2020. He has made 76 first-team appearances in all competitions, producing nine goals and 12 assists.

Form and fitness permitting, the 11-time US international will be expected to be part of the Stars and Stripes' 2022 FIFA World Cup squad in Qatar.