Giovanni "Gio" Reyna is pushing for a place in the BVB team. The 17-year-old could make his first start for Borussia Dortmund in Leverkusen – against the club where his father cut his teeth in the Bundesliga.

When the big-name players at Borussia Dortmund return to their cars after training to go home, Giovanni Reyna walks. It's only a few metres. Past the gatekeeper, who always says a friendly hello, across the carpark and he's already there. And while Marco Reus, Axel Witsel or Mats Hummels will slow down on Adi-Preißler-Allee to sign autographs for the waiting fans, Reyna goes largely unrecognised on his return to the BVB Youth Academy.

Reyna doesn't yet have a big car, nor does he have his own apartment. He doesn't even have his own bathroom. Reyna just has a bedroom of about a dozen square metres all to himself. Admittedly it's of a high standard – a bit like what you get in a hotel with pay-per-view TV and healthy food – but nothing compared to the houses and apartments where his famous colleagues reside. The youngster, who has only just turned 17, shares a bathroom and kitchen with Immanuel Pherai, Youssoufa Moukoko and Ansgar Knauff from the BVB U19s – some of the academy's most prodigious talents.

Youngest goalscorer in cup history at 17

They all want to move up – to the first-team, to football on the big stage. And Reyna is very much on the right track towards fulfilling that dream. The American has been a permanent fixture in the first-team squad since the winter. He has come off the bench in all four competitive matches this year. And by Tuesday at the latest, all of Germany understood why everyone at Borussia Dortmund was so delighted to see Reyna join the Black & Yellows last year despite competition for his signature from his some presitigious clubs.

It was the 78th minute of the match. The scene was the Weserstadion in Bremen. Reyna, who had come off the bench around the hour-mark in Dortmund's cup defeat to Werder to provide new momentum in attack, received the ball from Julian Brandt. He then embarked upon on a dribbling run past Leonardo Bittencourt, Yuya Osako and Davy Klaassen – who must have all felt like slalom poles at the time – before hitting an unstoppable curling effort towards the top-right corner. The goal was like a painting made up of many fine brushstrokes (click here for the TV highlights).

"Disappointed with the result, but happy to score my first professional goal," wrote Reyna – now the youngest goalscorer in DFB Cup history at the age of 17 years and 82 days – the day after the match on Instagram. That was followed by the battle cry: "We keep going."

Favre: "I see every day what Gio is capable of and what he does."

Keep going. Take the next steps. For goalscorer Reyna, that next step could be his first start at the weekend. Coach Lucien Favre certainly wasn't playing down the prospect when he said: "Why not, it's possible." Favre added that every day in training he sees "what Gio is capable of and what he does". He is "very, very clever and he can play almost every position in our system". BVB sporting director Michael Zorc was also lavish with his praise. "Erling Haaland and Gio Reyna are giving us a new lease of life. You can see it every day – and that does us good."

Following Marco Reus’ injury, the stage could be set for Reyna to make his first Borussia Dortmund start in Leverkusen – ironically, the very place where his father Claudio first made a name for himself in the Bundesliga almost 25 years ago. Reyna Senior played for the Werkself between 1994 and 1997, and – even more strangely – made his first home appearance for Bayer in the Bundesliga against Borussia Dortmund. It was 19 August 1995; the game ended 1-1.

On Saturday evening Reyna Junior will run into the BayArena – which used to be called the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion – for the first time. Not only the name has changed since his dad's days, with extensive reconstruction and renovation carried out in 2009 too. The Leverkusen youth setup have been given their own area within the stadium. And should Reyna glance to the left as soon as he enters the catacombs of the BayArena, he will see the staircase that leads to it. "Be so good that they can't ignore you," is written there in big letters. Reyna certainly looks to be doing just that. Perhaps it won't be long before he's being stopped for autographs on his short walk home. Just like the big names. He's certainly not going to go unrecognised in Dortmund for much longer.

Tobias Jöhren / RuhrNachrichten

A look back: The Matchday Magazine with Gio Reyna