Mic'd Up: ESPN's lead Bundesliga commentator discusses key storylines for Americans in Germany ahead of the 2025-26 season
Derek Rae is uncertain of where Gio Reyna's career goes from here. The 22-year-old U.S. international's time with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga is all but over, and the next move seems make-or-break for a player who was once considered the next big American soccer superstar.
"With regard to Gio Reyna, I think there's more to come from him, but just how good he is, how good he's going to be? I think nobody really knows," the veteran ESPN broadcaster told GOAL.
Ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Reyna was touted as a game-changing player. Nearly four years on, he's on the outside looking in at a spot on the USMNT for the 2026 World Cup.
"I think you have to look at the injury situation," Rae said. "Injuries have been part of the narrative with Gio Reyna and have held him back. He wouldn't be the first player who has emerged as a teenager and with big potential to then stall a bit. And I think the injuries have had to do with that.
"The weakness is that he's one-dimensional. And you can maybe be one-dimensional if you are right at the top of the tree among creative midfield players in the Bundesliga. But I think with Gio Reyna, we're talking about a player who's still a work in progress, and it's been moving to this point, to this point of departure, I think, for a while."
The Dortmund man isn't the only American in Germany, or even at Dortmund, with emerging storylines. Teenager Cole Campbell broke through with the last season into the first team, but could join Reyna in departing the club this summer.
Campbell, 19, is "one of the fastest players in the Bundesliga," per Rae, but "only time will tell" just how good he turns out to be. Meanwhile, wingers Kevin Paredes and Paxten Aaronson, both of whom starred for the U23 USMNT at the 2024 Olympics, are back in preseason training with clubs in Germany, searching for spots ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Paredes missed nearly all of last campaign with Wolfsburg due to injury, while Aaronson was loaned out from Eintracht Frankfurt to FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. Rae remains bullish on Aaronson's odds of breaking into this Frankfurt squad. And he calls this the biggest year of Paredes' professional career.
Rae, ESPN's lead Bundesliga commentator, also covers La Liga and is most prominently known by fans around the world as the voice of the EAFC video game. He discussed Reyna and other Americans in Germany in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
Getty Images SportON GIO REYNA
GOAL: Gio Reyna is reportedly set to transfer away from Borussia Dortmund this summer after seven years at the club. Why didn't things work out for him at BVB?
RAE: I think you have to look at the injury situation, injuries have been part of the narrative with Gio Reyna and have held him back. He wouldn't be the first player who has emerged as a teenager and with big potential to then stall a bit, and I think the injuries have had to do with that. I think also the style of play hasn't necessarily been the style of play that would suit him. And certainly, if you look at the last few months under Niko Kovac, Dortmund did ultimately pick up the form and made it into the Champions League, which looked very unlikely. You'd have to say, back around even April going into May, the prospects picked up, but I think there just wasn't room for that style of player within the system favored by Nico Kovac.
And again, you can go further back and look at under Edin Terzic, and he didn't seem to fit particularly well either. And I think it does come down to this: I think Gio Reyna is a good footballer, a talented footballer – certainly would use that adjective. But is he the best all-around footballer that you need to be in the Bundesliga? I would say probably not. The weakness is that he's one-dimensional. And you can maybe be one-dimensional if you are right at the top of the tree among creative midfield players in the Bundesliga. But I think with Gio Reyna, we're talking about a player who's still a work in progress, and it's been moving to this point, to this point of departure, I think, for a while. It might have happened last summer. I think he made the wrong move in going to England when he did, and going to Nottingham Forest specifically, which was not the right fit.
And there is a good example of what I was talking about. We use that word fit, the verb "passen" in German – "to fit." Does a player suit the style? And he didn't fit there. Didn't fit in. So you're looking at a specific sort of team that's required for Gio Reyna to prosper, and I think he sort of has to be the center of attention. But again, there aren't that many clubs that can afford that luxury nowadays, who can say, ‘Let's have one player who is the center of our attention, and through whom everything runs.’ So, as I said, it's been heading to this point for a while. Not really surprised, and probably best for both parties that a new chapter be written.
GOAL: Reyna has been linked with a move to Serie A. Do you believe a move outside of the Bundesliga would benefit him, or would he be better suited finding a different club in Germany?
RAE: Well, first of all, he'd have to find a team in the Bundesliga that would want him and at the price that he would ask, because we're talking about salary demands as well. And when you go from Borussia Dortmund to, say, a team that's typically in the wrong half of the Bundesliga, then you are, in most cases, talking about having to forego a certain amount of money. So it does come down to that as well. And the players' ambitions, where they can be playing-wise, and also financially. So I'm also not sure they're there, playing-wise. If I can imagine in my head if Reyna were to go to this team or that team, that would be the answer for him and for that team. I don't know if it's quite as simple as that.
What I would say is that we've seen countless examples down the years of players needing a change of scenery. And maybe he does need that. Maybe he needs a new environment, maybe he needs a slightly slower pace of football, which I think possibly would help him. And maybe he gets that in Serie A, should that come to pass? But I think it is a bit of an unwritten book. With regard to Gio Reyna, I think there's more to come from him. But just how good he is, how good is he going to be, nobody really knows. And again, it really is proof, positive of the old maxim that you don't judge a player at 18, 19, 20, you have to wait for the finished article. And it's not an automatic that a very good player at 18, 19, 20 goes on to continue developing. Sometimes, that is the end story in terms of their overall development.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportON COLE CAMPBELL
GOAL: Another American at Dortmund, Cole Campbell, is linked with a move to Stuttgart away from BVB. Do you think a move out of the Dortmund system would be beneficial for his development, considering the amount of young talent the club produced, or should he push for a stay?
RAE: And the one thing about Campbell is, again, we don't know enough about what he can do at a high level; he has pace. He's one of the fastest players in the Bundesliga. That's a fact. There's no ambiguity about that. But what can he do in technical terms, how good is he? So, I think Dortmund are probably of the mind that he needs to go somewhere else and play, and they need to find out how good he is. Has even been talked about? Maybe he's the sort of player they should transfer for a sum of money, because perhaps they don't think that he's ultimately going to be the player who would be a first-team member at Borussia Dortmund. So I think that's a wait and see.
He's still young. Has time on his side, but I think he does need to develop. And the big problem for Dortmund is that you can play for the second team, but what is that really giving you in terms of experience? So I think he probably needs to move somewhere else, lower level than Dortmund, somewhere where he can play. It might be the second division in Germany. It might be across the border, and somewhere like Belgium, which is often a preferred destination of Bundesliga clubs when it comes to getting experience. So we have to wait and see on that one. I'm not quite sure going to Stuttgart would be to the benefit of his career, because he's not going to play for Stuttgart, so he'd be in a situation there where he's out on loan as well. So again, it's really the unknown with regard to Cole Campbell, other than his pace and other than his potential. Only time will tell.
Getty Images SportON KEVIN PAREDES
GOAL: Kevin Paredes starred for the USA at the Olympics, but missed the majority of the 2024-25 campaign due to injury. What are fair expectations from him at Wolfsburg, and just how good can he be?
RAE: There's a lot to like about Paredes, and I think we've seen more than a glimpse of his potential. Again, unlucky with injuries. This has been the story. That was certainly the story last season. It was nice to see him come back towards the end of the campaign, but his big problem in Wolfsburg is that there has been a lot of chopping and changing on the coaching front. And it's almost a case of new season, new coach. You've got to go back to the days of Oliver Glasner for any sort of continuity at that club. Under Paul Simonis, their new coach, he has a chance to prove himself. That might work out. The great thing about him is that he's versatile. He can be used high up or even deeper as a wing-back. And so I think there is potential there. I think he's somebody to constantly keep an eye on.
But injuries at a young age. I mean, my goodness, this is sort of make or break for a lot of young players. Now, you get a bad injury at the wrong time, and it can really set back your development. Paredes, I think there are still our chapters to be written in Wolfsburg. They are a funny club, because they never quite rise to the level that maybe we think they should rise to. They generally spend quite a lot of money on players in comparison with other Bundesliga clubs, but it rarely gets them – certainly in the modern era – into European competition. So we're talking about a sort of middle-of-the-pack team, sometimes even relegation-threatened team. But I think Paredes should persevere there, and if he stays fit, good things could happen for him this season.
Getty Images SportON PAXTEN AARONSON
GOAL:Paxten Aaronson returned from his loan spell at FC Utrecht and is now taking part in preseason with Eintracht Frankfurt. He played up front for the USA at the Olympics and thrived, but on loan in the Netherlands this season, he played more of a midfield role. With striker Hugo Ekitike signing for Liverpool, does that open a spot up for Aaronson?
RAE: Again, we haven't really seen enough of Paxten Aaronson in Frankfurt to know how well he fits there. Certainly, the lone spell will have done him good, but as a striker for Frankfurt, I'm not sure his style of play fits with how they want to play. And, yeah, you're right. Hugo Ekitike is going to Liverpool for big money after Omar Marmoush had gone to Manchester City for likewise, big money. But they already have reinforcements. They've already got options there, like young Elye Wahi, who they went to great lengths to sign, and he certainly wasn't signed for big money to be sitting on the bench short term. They have an experienced player, Michy Batshuayi, too, so I would think for Paxten Aaronson, as a striker with Eintracht Frankfurt, that would be a long shot.
Does he fit somewhere into the midfield? Again? I don't know. I'm not sure I look at him at this point and see a fully formed player who's going to be, you know, starting 20 games for Frankfurt, and talking to people around the club, I don't think necessarily they have that belief either. So, whether he's looking at another loan somewhere else, again, that might be frustrating for a lot of people. But I don't think that people should scoff at that, because that is the nature of modern football, and sometimes you have to go on loan. Sometimes it's in the interests of the parent club to send you on loan to just have a better look. Because, for example, if he were on loan in Germany, somewhere, even in the Zweite Bundesliga, you would see different aspects of his play. He'd be tested in a different way, certainly, atmosphere-wise, tested too. So I think that's all part of the grounding that players have to undergo when they make the move as Americans, moving to German football, because the challenges, the day-to-day challenges, are greater.
You are playing in this environment where everything really matters. There's nothing really comparable in the USA – certainly in football – that's on that level in terms of mental day-to-day test and living with that and having to prove yourself and often being disappointed because you are not the the main player around whom everything is built. They have burden of being in three different competitions, including the Champions League, so that is not to be sniffed at, either. But I think it's wait and see how does he do in the next few weeks as we move towards the start of the season, and then Frankfurt can make a decision.