Revs loan Justin Rennicks to USL's North Carolina FC - what it means for him and the club

The Revolution announced Thursday afternoon that they have sent Homegrown striker Justin Rennicks on loan to USL Championship side North Carolina FC effective immediately, through the end of the 2019 campaign.

Much like the loans of striker Brian Wright and Homegrown midfielder Zach Herivaux to Birmingham Legion this year, Rennicks’ loan is open-ended, which means the club can recall him at any time.

Rennicks made two appearances in the league for the Revs this season, and also made an appearance — and scored his first professional goal — in the US Open Cup loss to Orlando City in June.

The South Hamilton native has also played for the US U20s, scoring a goal in the U20 World Cup this season. He also played in the Homegrown game earlier this week.

BSJ Analysis

Without a doubt, the right move — one could say the only move — for Rennicks at this point in time.

Given the situation the Revolution are in right now with their attacking players in such tremendous form, there’s no place for Rennicks to break into the squad. Rennicks needs minutes on the pitch, and one cannot develop properly without getting those regular first-team minutes. The Revs made this mistake with Herivaux: they signed him to his Homegrown contract in 2015, gave him a few run-outs — five games in 2016, five games in 2018 — but let him stagnate on the bench for most of his time in Foxborough. Finally sending him and Wright out to Birmingham this year has helped both gain in-game confidence.

The same will be true with Rennicks: North Carolina FC plays the same teams Birmingham plays, the same teams Hartford Athletic plays. And he’ll be under the tutelage of one Dave Sarachan, the man who guided the US men’s national team last year as the interim coach between Bruce Arena’s tenure and Gregg Berhalter. He was on Arena's staff with the US national team, as well as in several of Arena's other stops. He knows how to develop players, knows what Arena wants. Rest assured, Rennicks will be in good hands down in Cary.

And like Herivaux’s loan, it’s open-ended: we saw Herivaux at Revs training a couple of weeks ago following the Gold Cup, and now he’s back in Alabama.

This is a good thing for JR12’s development, and we’ll be seeing him back in Foxborough looking to break into the squad in January.

And besides -- we don't know yet who Arena will replace come November. If Rennicks comes back stronger, there may be a place for him in the lineup in 2020.