U.S. Men’s Team Stock Watch: What’s Ahead for Reyna, Pulisic, Sargent?

The biggest development for the U.S. men’s national team this past week came off the field.

On Saturday, Gio Reyna finally left German club Borussia Dortmund after six years and signed with rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. It was a desperately needed change in scenery for the former prodigy to have any hope of cracking USMNT’s 2026 FIFA World Cup roster next June.

Injuries and coaching decisions limited the 22-year-old Reyna to just 627 minutes logged across all competitions last season (and only 592 in 2023-24). He still needs to play, obviously, and it’s fair to wonder if he will with veterans Franck Honorat, Robin Hack and Kevin Stöger entrenched as starting attackers in ‘Gladbach manager Gerardo Seoane’s 4-2-3-1 formation. 

For now, though, Reyna has what he’s long needed most: a fresh start. And he’ll have his USMNT teammate and childhood friend Joe Scally at Gladbach as well. (More on Scally later.) 

But Reyna’s move surely comes too late for him to be considered for the USMNT’s upcoming September games. On Tuesday, manager Mauricio Pochettino will announce his first squad since an MLS-heavy USMNT lost the Concacaf Gold Cup final to rival Mexico back on July 6. 

The Americans will face South Korea and Japan in friendly games on Sept. 6 in New Jersey and three days later in Columbus, Ohio. Here’s a quick snapshot of the player pool ahead of the September roster drop. 

Forwards

Stock Up: Pulisic and Sargent back in the mix?

After a drama-filled summer, Christian Pulisic had a night to forget Saturday as seven-time European champs AC Milan lost its Serie A opener at home to newly promoted Cremonese. But Pulisic did score in last week’s Coppa Italia victory over Bari to star his club campaign on the right foot.

The last two weeks probably won’t come into Pochettino’s decision-making when it comes to including Pulisic for September. After the USMNT’s best player skipped the Gold Cup, then got into a public sparring match with his coach, the thought was that Pochettino might not bring his star man back right away. 

But while sources told me that Pulisic and Pochettino haven’t spoken since May, there’s also a sense that it’s time to move on. Just five two-match FIFA international windows remain before the World Cup kicks off on June 12 in Los Angeles. There’s no time to waste.

Meanwhile, though Josh Sargent famously wasn’t summoned for the Gold Cup — “it [was] a football decision and we wanted to see other forwards,” Pochettino told reporters at the time — the St. Louis-area product has done everything possible to earn an invitation, being named captain of Norwich City and scoring in each of the English Championship club’s first four matches to open the new campaign.

Sargent’s goal in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough on Saturday was a beauty.

Stock Up: Pivotal seasons in France for Weah, Balogun

Tim Weah had a quiet debut for new club Marseille, going the first 63 minutes of a 5-1 win over promoted Paris FC. Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Folarin Balogun made his season debut for Monaco, starting and going the distance in a heartbreaking, last-gasp loss at Lille. Balogun, who missed most of last season following shoulder surgery and then withdrew from the Gold Cup because of an ankle injury, looked a little rusty. At least he’s healthy: Balogun hans’t been available for the U.S. since Pochettino was hired last September, with his last appearance coming in the 2024 Copa América.

Stock Up: Pepi, Wright make promising returns from injuries

Ricardo Pepi also had surgery last season, and the 22-year-old frontrunner’s knee has taken longer to heal than expected. But the rangy Texan was able to make his first league appearance of 2025-26 for Dutch champs PSV Eindhoven, coming on for the final four minutes of Saturday’s 4-2 win over Groningen. If Pepi isn’t included on Tuesday, Sargent’s chances probably improve.

Then again, Haji Wright made the Gold Cup team over Sargent, and scored off the bench in the hosts’ tournament opener before leaving camp with an Achilles problem. On Saturday, Wright scored two good goals in Coventry City’s 7-1 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers.

Stock Down: Aaronson’s diminished role at Leeds?

Brenden Aaronson started 43 games, mostly as a central attacking midfielder, for Leeds United in the second-tier Championship last season. But he’s entered off the bench in each of Leeds’ first two games back in the Premier League, both times as a right wing. Aaronson played the final 24 minutes of Sunday’s 5-0 loss away to Arsenal.

Stock Down: Gold Cup stars still out with injuries

Malik Tillman was one of the biggest winners at the Gold Cup. But the former PSV attacker missed Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga season-opening loss at home to Hoffenheim because of a lingering calf issue that cost him much of the preseason. Leverkusen paid almost $47 million to acquire Tillman in July.

Patrick Agyemang, who has started nine of the USMNT’s 12 games this year, remains sidelined for Championship side Derby County following a hernia repair. The Rams paid around $8 million to MLS side Charlotte FC to lure Agyemang to England last month.

Midfielders

Stock Up: Adams, Cardoso with strong starts

Tyler Adams looks back to his best with Premier League Bournemouth. Adams, who was limited to 31 out of a possible 76 Premier League games for the Cherries the last two years, helped set up his team’s lone goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Wolves and played all but two minutes of Bournemouth’s first two matches.

After arriving from Real Betis this summer for $35 million, Johnny Cardoso has started both La Liga matches this term for Atletico Madrid’s , including Saturday’s 1-1 tie with Elche. Cardoso was replaced by World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann with around 20 minutes to go.

Aidan Morris was named Man of the Match for the second consecutive week following Middlesbrough’s 2-1 win over Sargent and Norwich. Morris began the play that led to ‘Boro’s eventual winner with a defensive intervention, then provided the primary assist. Morris started Poch’s first two games at the U.S. helm last October but hasn’t been called back since.

And in France, Tanner Tessmann has gone 90 for Lyon in each of their first two Ligue 1 outings, both wins.

Stock Down: New scenery needed for McKennie, Musah?

A regular starter in Turin since his arrival five years ago, Weston McKennie was on manager Igor Tudor’s bench for Juventus’ season-opening 2-0 win over Parma. McKennie was inserted for the final minute. (While training on the field afterward, McKennie was the target of racial abuse from visiting fans.)

Yunus Musah didn’t play at all in AC Milan’s curtain-raiser. And he might have represented the Rossoneri for the final time, with reports in Italy suggesting a transfer to Serie A rivals Atalanta is imminent.

Paxten Aaronson’s transfer to the Colorado Rapids is curious, but not because the quality of play in the Dutch Eredivisie (where he spent the last two seasons on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt) is better than MLS. Unless the Rapids made a deep playoff run in a stacked Western Conference, the 21-year-old’s season could be over after just a handful of games.

Defenders

Stock Up: Return of the Jedi; Dest dusts off rust

Summer knee surgery kept star left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson out of the Gold Cup, Fulham’s entire preseason and the Cottagers Aug. 16 Prem opener versus Brighton. So seeing Jedi inserted for the final 28 minutes of Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Saturday was a sight for sore eyes for USMNT supporters. Probably Pochettino, too. Jedi had the hockey assist on Fulham’s leveler. 

On the opposite side, Sergiño Dest continues to look like his old self. Dest went 90 for the second week running for PSV Eindhoven and picked up his second straight assist, adding to his spectacular season-opening goal against Sparta Rotterdam on Aug. 9.

Top U.S. center back Chris Richards has been superb for unbeaten Crystal Palace through two Premier League games. His regular USMNT partner, Tim Ream, has been much better for Charlotte since moving back to his usual spot in the middle as opposed to the left. On Sunday, Ream helped The Crown keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.

Speaking of shutouts, Mark McKenzie and second-place Toulouse have not conceded through two Ligue 1 games so far. McKenzie played all of both contests as a right-sided center back in manager Franck Haise’s 3-4-3 setup.

In MLS, Orlando City right back Alex Freeman has stepped up his game since the Gold Cup, where he started all six matches. Freeman and the Lions meet Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in Wednesday’s Leagues Cup semifinal. Lefty Max Arfsten has three goals in 10 games for the Columbus Crew since the Gold Cup ended.

Finally, in Scotland, Cameron Carter-Vickers remains Celtic’s heart-and-soul central defender; the 27-year-old World Cup vet played every minute of their first three games before being rested ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League qualifier against Kairat in Kazakhstan.

Stock Down: Scally getting crowded out?

Freeman got the nod over Scally for the Gold Cup; with Dest now back, there simply might not be room for Scally in September. 

Auston Trusty appears to have lost his job next to Carter-Vickers with the Hoops; Trusty has started just one of five games under Brenden Rogers since the new season began.

Will MLS defenders Miles Robinson and/or Walker Zimmermann survive the cut? Both were at the Gold Cup but played just seven and six minutes, respectively. Youngster Kevin Paredes remains out with a long-term foot injury. 

Goalkeepers

Stock Up: Turner or Freese? Can’t go wrong right now.

Now that Matt Turner is (finally) playing again and playing well for old/new club New England Revolution, there’s no reason to think the 2022 World Cup starter won’t eventually win back his role as the Americans’ No. 1 backstop.

Pochettino could still stick with Matt Freese in the net next month after the NYCFC keeper — who’d never been capped before June — led the shorthanded Americans to the Gold Cup final. Either way, the Harvard graduate is now at least the backup, having leapfrogged Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen, who were both hurt this summer. Chris Brady served as third string at the Gold Cup.

Stock Down: Horvath has little room for error

If Ethan Horvath has any advantage over the MLS-based contingent, it’s that he could be playing regularly in Europe when the domestic league goes dark from early-December through late February. But the 30-year-old, who was loaned from Cardiff City to Sheffield Wednesday last week, had a rough debut in Saturday’s 2-2 stalemate at Wrexham, spilling a shot that led to a goal. Fortunately for Horvath, his side came back to earn a point. The Owls host Leeds on Tuesday in EFL Cup action.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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