Gregg Berhalter says his relationship with Gio Reyna will ‘take time’ to fully heal as the winger is set to make his return to the US men’s national team

• Berhalter said that his recent Zoom conversation with Reyna was ‘positive’ 
• He also addressed the absence of Tyler Adams, saying he’d be in if not for injury
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna are about to be co-workers again for the first time since the scandal that rocked US Soccer at the beginning of this year.

Reyna was recently announced as part of the 23-man roster the United States will field in friendlies against Germany and Ghana in a matter of days.

In a press conference after the roster announcement, Berhalter spoke about the Zoom call he had with Gio before naming him to the squad – and how he thinks their relationship will develop in the future.

Berhalter said that it was a ‘positive conversation’ and said that he was ‘appreciative of him taking time and being able to connect.’

‘It’s about aligning on how we’re moving forward and I think we did that,’ Berhalter told reporters – while adding that he would keep the exact contents of the conversation private.

Gregg Berhalter (L) said that his relationship with Gio Reyna (R) will ‘need time’ to fully heal

He added that he was appreciative of having the conversation, and acknowledges that, ‘I think it will take time. There’s a difference between the Zoom call and being in person, but I think that both intentions are positive.

‘And the idea is that we work together for the team to be successful and I think we’re both prepared to do that… Although it may take some time we’re both aligned with what we want to accomplish.’

Reyna is making his return to the United States men’s national team for the first time since Berhalter was re-hired back to his old position.

The manager’s contract elapsed at the end of 2022 and he wasn’t given a renewal, thanks in part to Claudio and Danielle Reyna – the parents of Gio – revealing that Berhalter was part of a domestic violence incident to senior members of US Soccer.

Berhalter and the Reynas were subjects in a long-winded investigation that ended in the conclusion that Gregg could remain a candidate for his old job.

After a long coaching search, US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker announced that Berhalter would be brought back into the team.

The second Berhalter era began with matches against Uzbekistan and Oman, but Reyna was not included in those lineups due to injury.

Reyna only recently returned to his club side, Borussia Dortmund, in recent weeks and has not played a single minute under manager Edin Terzic.

Berhalter: ‘It may take some time we’re both aligned with what we want to accomplish’

Reyna has only recently returned to his club team, Borussia Dortmund, after an injury

Berhalter told MailSport that Tyler Adams would have been in the team were it not for a hamstring issue that the Bournemouth midfielder has been rehabbing since March of this year

Berhalter told reporters that he plans to use Reyna in both games and sees him as a player that can be deployed in at least three positions: central midfielder, attacking midfielder, and winger.

‘Our objective in this camp is very similar to [Folarin Balogun] in last camp: how many minutes can we give him on the field that you know he can build up in a safe way and then go back to Dortmund and really propel him to make a big impact for his club?

‘So we’re gonna be creative with the minutes. We want to certainly get him on the field and work through both the Germany game and see what position he plays; and then in the Ghana game, same thing.’

Elsewhere within the team, Berhalter said that the team was thinking about Tyler Adams – who recently suffered an injury for his club side, Bournemouth.

Berhalter answered a question from MailSport, saying that he spoke to Adams and that he would have been in the team were it not for the injury.

Adams only just made his debut with his club side last week after rehabbing a hamstring injury he picked up back when he was playing with Leeds United in March.

But now, it appears Adams has suffered a setback in his healing process and will not be available for a while.

Berhalter also said that injuries kept center back Mark McKenzie and full back Antonee Robinson out of the team.

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