Fort Worth’s Bryan Reynolds to play in Italy after club pays record fee
The plan was always for FC Dallas to transfer Bryan Reynolds, but never did the MLS franchise foresee it happening this quickly.
There was one who did. Bryan’s father, Keith.
Fullback Bryan Reynolds, 19, who grew up in Fort Worth and played in the YMCA leagues in town, will now continue his professional career in Italy.
On Monday, FC Dallas announced that AS Roma of Serie A essentially won out on Reynolds after agreeing to a franchise-record transfer fee.
Reynolds agreed to a 4 1/2 year deal.
Back in November, he made it clear that this scenario was the goal.
“Europe is eventually where I want to go and play,” Reynolds said just a few months ago. “That’s been the goal, and if that does happen it’s something I want to try to do.”
Late last season, Reynolds had been linked to other high profile teams in Europe, most notably Juventus and Benevento.
FC Dallas officials didn’t think Reynolds would leave the team this quickly. They knew he would eventually leave, but they believed they would have Reynolds for at least duration of the 2021 season.
In a conversation with Reynolds’ father, Keith, who played professionally overseas as well as collegiately at SMU, he said he thought this was all going to come quicker than other people expected.
“I hope that one day I can come back and play here, but I’ve got to make that jump,” Bryan Reynolds wrote in a letter to fans posted on the FC Dallas’ website. “It’s going to help me and my family. It’s life changing. I appreciate all of you so much and I love y’all.”
Reynolds signed with FC Dallas as a 15-year-old and now joins Reggie Cannon and a few others who were developed here before making the jump overseas to the higher profile leagues.
That has been the model for FC Dallas, and countless other soccer teams all over the world.
The surprise is how little Reynolds has played with FC Dallas before jumping over the Atlantic. He’s only had 15 “topflight” starts with the big league before leaving.
He’s showed so much promise in his limited time in the MLS that he drew the attention of other top teams in Europe, and that started a bidding war.
Now that he’s in Italy, the next goal for Reynolds will be team join U.S. Men’s National Team in the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
