‘Lovely Guy’ & ‘Top Signing’: Reijnders Shines For Man City

The Belgian departed Manchester City in the summer and his contributions will never be forgotten, but their fans have a new hero to adore in the shape of Tijjani Reijnders.

The 27-year-old Dutchman delivered an all-action performance, contributing a goal and an assist, as City showed they mean business by thrashing Wolves at Molineux.

Reijnders is only the second City player to both score and provide a goal on his Premier League debut, after Sergio Aguero, and if he achieves even half of what the Argentina striker did, he will be a sure-fire hit for the club.

“It’s a great start,” Reijnders told BBC Match of the Day. “Very happy with an assist and a goal and a very good win. It is a great start and we have to keep going now.”

Boss Pep Guardiola said of the performance: “Really good. Lovely guy and has made an impact from day one. His pace, he can help with the holding midfield.

“He can make runs inside the pockets and the spaces that sometimes we allow defenders to create.

“At Milan he was exceptional and with the national team. We knew he is a top signing for the coming years for City.”

Former England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Match of the Day: “He was sensational, it was almost the perfect midfield performance. It was incredible. He controlled the game at his pace.

“He is an absolute nightmare to play against because he is always on the move.

“The way he ran was a key part for Man City, he just kept going and going and Wolves didn’t have the answer. He was brilliant at it, they couldn’t cope with him.”

*Who is Reijnders?*
A powerful box-to-box midfielder, Reijnders made his senior debut for Dutch side PEC Zwolle in 2017 before joining fellow Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar in early 2018.

After a loan spell with RKC Waalwijk in 2019-20, he went on to establish himself in Alkmaar’s first team, his tally of 13 goals and 15 assists in 128 appearances earning him a move to Milan in 2023.

Reijnders ended last season with 10 goals and four assists for the Rossoneri, with only one player in his position, Napoli’s Scott McTominay (16), registering more goal involvements.

His fine displays were one of the few positives in a frustrating campaign for Milan, who finished eighth in Serie A and missed out on European qualification altogether.

Reijnders’ four assists is perhaps an unfair reflection on his influence in the final third. He was ranked ninth for forward passes in Italy’s top flight last term, and was fifth for through balls and carrying the ball.

He also ranked seventh for carries of more than 10 metres in Serie A last season, an asset that could prove crucial in Guardiola’s transitional play.

The same goes for his ability to bring out the best in attacking players around him: last season, he was involved in an unrivalled 205 passages of play that ended in a shot being attempted.

Reijnders also ranked second of all Serie A players for secondary chances created (49) – in other words, getting the right players into the best positions to create a chance for a team-mate.

Reijnders has won 23 Netherlands caps, starting all six games for his country at Euro 2024 in Germany last year. *BBC*