Tijjani Reijnders has ended up in the sights of Manchester City and while AC Milan want to keep him, a huge offer could persuade them.
As Corriere dello Sport recall, Martin Haar – the former coach of AZ Alkmaar – had a clear vision in November 2024: “Today Tijjani is one of the best players at Milan but I think that in one or two years maximum there will be a further leap, I’m sure of it. Real Madrid or Manchester City: this will be his level.”
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Sure enough, Reijnders has ended up on Manchester City’s list for next season. Pep Guardiola has identified the Dutchman as an ‘ideal reinforcement’ having noted his extraordinary progress at Milan, with 15 goals this season plus five assists.
Reijnders arrived at Milan in the summer of 2023 for €20.5m and was presented as one of the three purchases that arrived in the Rossoneri thanks to the lucrative sale of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle. He has very different characteristics compared to the Italian: less grinta, more technique and goals.
It was easy to imagine that Tonali would enter into the heart of Milan fans given he is one of them, but there could have been some doubts about Reijnders. Yet, he took very little to settle into the new reality.
The price to make Milan wobble
In his first season with the Rossoneri, the No.14 achieved a more than decent haul: 50 games played with four goals and four assists. It is in the current one, however, that the statistics have literally exploded: 51 appearances, 15 goals, five assists.
He is the best midfielder in Serie A among the scorers and among the best in Europe in his role. And it is not only the numbers on the scoresheet that confirm his growth. Reijnders, in every game, always shows quality, high-level plays, vision, style and class befitting of… a Guardiola team.
Contacts between the English club and the Diavolo have not taken place yet, just as there have been no discussions involving the entourage of the 26-year-old. However, City will in the coming weeks study the right offer to present in June to Milan and to the boy.
It is likely that it could exceed €70m, a figure that would allow CEO Giorgio Furlani to budget the most profitable transfer in the club’s history, exceeding both the €67m earned from Kakà’s farewell and the little more than €60m that arrived from Tonali ‘s departure.
What would the response of the Milan management be? The rule is always the same: there are no unsellable players. At the right price, everyone can leave. Then there are also further evaluations – certainly not details – that need to be made.
Milan recently protected Reijnders with a contract renewal until 2030 that included a pay rise, electing him as the player around which to build the near future. On a technical level, therefore, it would be advisable not to let him go.
Just as, taking a look at the mood of the Milan environment in general, the possible sale of Reijnders would not be accepted by a large part of the fans.
I would say above 80M… Gonzalez went to City for 60M and Tiji is way better…
This is what I’m thinking too. It will happen for around 80M.
spend that money on Ricci and Rovella? or even give Varela to Conceicao…
I worry more that we won’t sign anyone with quality for our CB spot or we sell Theo and don’t bring anyone appropriate
“The rule is always the same: there are no unsellable players. At the right price, everyone can leave. ”
Kind of true for every club out there but the thing is… You gotta have competent people getting the adequate replacements. Instead of that, we have Moncada and his notebooks saying “Emerson Royal is a fantastic player”.
Wasn’t Reijnders signed by Moncada?
Based on other signings (Musah, Chuk, Pellegrino, Lazetic etc) I wouldn’t bet my money on it.
He was, what are you talking about. Moncada has as many hits and misses as Maldini. Honestly they both were average at constructing squads.
Maldini was kicked out and Moncada gets to stay.
310 mills 3 seas on loan bot with a Theo is last offer
Chukueze 310 mills 1 seas on loanl
Our superstar sporting/technical/lead scout/boy wonder Moncada already has 15 million Chukwuemeka in line to replace Reijnders.
And you thought our management don’t come prepared
#guessagain #wearecookin #sempremilan
Ac is officially Red Birds 60 million per player club.
If I am a player with ambitions, I will push to be sold
Inter were also troubled financially these last 5 years but they kept Lautaro,Barella,Bastoni etc.
Why can’t Milan keep their best players? Sell the fringe players , find a way.
Selling Pulisic or Reijnders is unforgivable , not being in the CL is no excuse.
Why? Because Milan’s management is incredibly incompetent. Inter’s isn’t.
Didn’t inter sell their best player at the time Icardi during these last 5 years?
How about selling the MVP of serie A Lukaku during these 5 years?
How about selling Hakimi during these last 5 years?
Didn’t they even sell their best Primavera talent Casadei during these 5 years?
How about selling UCL best goalkeeper of the year Onana?
What about selling the best midfielder in serie A over the last 7,8 years Marcelo Brozovic?
We’re those not their best players or were they fringe players?
Milan has kept their best players. Who has been sold? Tonali who was suspended from playing football for a year? Aren’t Milan best players Theo, Leao, Maignan still at Milan?
So between inter and Milan, who has really sold their best players and who has kept theirs?
People just yap for the sake of yapping
They made it to two finals in three years because they kept the main foundation of players ,the backbone of the team together.
The ones that were sold were either getting on (brozovic, Lukaku) or not integral to the system (hakimi,onana).
Reijnders and Pulisic are in their mid twenties and the best players on the team that’s why top teams want them.
Selling them now would only damage the club , if anything they should build around them.That is just my opinion.
There is no problem with your opinion that Milan should not sell Reijnders or Pulisic, but the problem is that you wrote your comment as Milan is a selling club while inter is not, which is totally the opposite.
You said inter kept their foundation and backbone of the club. So did Milan. The difference is that inter chose players worthy to be the backbone while Milan chose Theo, Leao, Maignan, players who aren’t worthy to be the backbone.
Lukaku was sold the same summer after Inter won the scudetto and he won serie A MVP. Hakimi as well. And Hakimi was very integral to their system. He was arguably their 2nd best player that season. Inter selling Lukaku and Hakimi in the same summer, is almost as bad as Milan selling Zlatan and Thiago Silva.
Onana was sold because inter is a selling club. They signed him for free and a year later after he helped them go to the UCL final, sold him for 60 mil.
You have some real issues with Milan. Is there any Milan player you actually like?
I wrote my comment in relation to this article , about selling Reijnders. In fact , I said they should sell other players just not Reijnders and Pulisic.
Hakimi is very talented but without him they played just as good if not better. Onana was replaced rather easily just like Milan replaced Donnarumma and won the Scudetto.
Almost as bad as Thiago & Zlatan leaving? Fact is, Inter improved after selling the players you mentioned whilst Milan descended into chaos after those two players left the club, it caused immense damage to the club that took years to fix.
However I understand your point about settling on the backbone of the team being the difference. ..even if I don’t share your opinion on all those players exactly.
Inter improved after selling Lukaku and Hakimi?
They won the scudetto with Lukaku and Hakimi.
Finished the next season 2nd behind Milan after they sold Lukaku and Hakimi.
They finished 4th the following season, 20 points behind Napoli.
Doesn’t sound like improvement to me.
You made the Onana Donnarumma comparison. You know what’s the biggest difference there. Inter sold Onana for 60 m which allowed them to replace him and buy other players to strengthen the team with that money, while Milan lost Donnarumma for nothing and had to spend money to buy Donnarumma’s replacement.
They made it to two CL finals without Hakimi & Lukaku , winning the semi final derby in the process and made incredible gains in prestige and wealth in the process. It sounds like improvement to me.
We all know that Donnarumma was lost for nothing but he was also acquired for nothing and replaced for only 15m .
“We all know that Donnarumma was lost for nothing but he was also acquired for nothing and replaced for only 15m .”
Onana was also acquired for nothing and sold for 60 million a year later, and then replaced for only 6 million.
So Milan came in at -15 million from Donnarumma- Maignan operation, while inter came in at + 54 from Onana – Sommer operation.
You sell a player instead of losing them for free and you have the money to replace him, plus strength other areas of the team. It’s that simple.
We veered off our initial argument Z , regarding this article.
The Donnarumma affair was sad for the club and ideally yeah , you sell players not lose them for free but it was a complex scenario as we all know with Raiola at the time and Maldini still learning on the job.
All in all it was about damage limitation and replacing him with Maignan for 15m wasn’t so bad. It could have been worse.
Milan went on to win the Scudetto in what was the most enjoyable season in a decade.
Well Inter has a competent management who is able to determine who were able to find adequate replacements that fit their system and their way of playing.
I’m not with them but I assume that by the time a player is certain to be sold or to leave, Marotta and Inzaghi have already a short list of players who can replace him.
And how well does that work ? Most of the players they brought weren’t as good as they are right now and some of the them were borderline average.
Sommer wasn’t wanted by Bayern Munich.
Çalhanoğlu was never this good with us.
Bisseck was brought from the Superliga.
Dumfries who was an average player looked like the best right back in the world against FC Barcelona.
…
Inter can sell or let go of players because their system and way of play is so well established that replacing a piece with another won’t distrupt it. Add to it the great sense of confidence between players and staff because they know they are part of a good project.
We can’t do that. We don’t have a system, we don’t have a foundation. The players don’t trust the management and the management doesn’t know what he is doing.
Among dozen of players that we brought under this management only Pulišić, Reijnders and maybe Fofana can be considered more that decent.
So the question is not who or if are we going to sell, but who are we going to bring ?
Do we trust Furlani, Moncada and Ibrahimović to solve problems they essentially created ?
What does all this has to do with the false narrative pushed that inter keeps their best players while Milan sell theirs?
Also, Calhanoglu, wasn’t this good for us?
Do people realize that Hakan Calhanoglu played for Milan for 4 seasons and he had 80 goal contributions total during those 4 seasons. That’s 20 g/a a season. But he wasn’t good at Milan. And before anyone says penalties, he only shot 3 as a Milan player.
Sommer was bought by bayern as an emergency to replace Neuer who had a season ending surgery. They bought him mid-season and when Neuer returned they had to sell Sommer because he was too good to be a bench player.
Is Bisseck signing any different that Thiaw?
Milan was literally interested in Dumfries the year before inter signed him. Also , Dumfries has improved, something that players should do, just like Barella has inproved, Bastoni has improved, Lautaro has improved. Can you tell me where Leao, Theo and Maignan has improved besides their bank accounts. And Milan played with the same system for 5 years.
Bastoni, Barella, Lautaro vs Maignan, Theo and Leao is the biggest difference between Inter and Milan.
Hahahhah
@Z Don’t try to reason with these people using actual facts . They just want to hate. They don’t want or need any actual reasons. It changes by the day. One day it’s “ownership is cheap and won’t spend”, or “they only care about profit and are turning Milan into a farm team”. These same people were screaming last season that Milan were going to sell Leao, Theo and Maignan, all of which are still here. Doesn’t matter to them, they won’t admit they were wrong, the argument just shifts to something else.
The difference between Inter and Milan, like you point out , was that when Inter lost important players they actually got money to replace them whereas Milan let their valuable players leave for free. (Donnarumma, Calhanoglu, Kessie) And that falls on the great and infallible Maldini, which of course they will never admit.
“What does all this has to do with the false narrative pushed that inter keeps their best players while Milan sell theirs?”
My questions below. It’s not about whom we keep or not keep, but how we replace them ?
I’m not against selling, but I do not trust this management to make the good decisions on whom shall replace the players who will depart.
“Also, Calhanoglu, wasn’t this good for us?
Do people realize that Hakan Calhanoglu played for Milan for 4 seasons and he had 80 goal contributions total during those 4 seasons. That’s 20 g/a a season. But he wasn’t good at Milan.”
Jesus Christ, is goal and assists the only thing you look at for a midfielder ? Çalhanoğlu was mostly a winger/attacking midfielder with us but it’s funny how you see him good while Leão, who is always at 25 G/A is trash
I didn’t say he was bad, I said never THIS good. With Inter, he was a top 20 player in the world in 2024, can you point me to a season where Çalhanoğlu was a top 20 player in the world ?
“And Milan played with the same system for 5 years.”
What system ?
Also, not to deflect from the players’ responsibilites but when none of our players improve, while every Inter player seem to improve, maybe it’s about time to look above and not just at the individuals themselves.
@K: I wish I was Maldini.
In these times where housing price keeps getting higher and higher and some people have to work 2 jobs just to rent an appartment, he at least has a free rent in your head.
Z is right. We have to look at ourselves, not at Inter. They have been very lucky on a few occasions because it could easily have gone the other way. Just luck, nothing else. And they didn´t have to cope with traitors like Dollaruma. But if Inter don´t win the CL final, they´ll probably end the season with 2nd places all around and everybody at Inter will want forget about this season.
But the difference is that Inter know how to build a team no matter who they sell/replace because they have someone competent doing it. Barella was/is integral to the team so they refused NUFC offer. Milan didn’t no matter what Tonali meant to the team.
Milan are just buying selling based on value.
@Z, you have time to be replying them. It’s their agenda and nothing can change it in their minds. They are the anti-milan management agents. Even the so called marotta got many failures
just so we’re clear, you’re in support of what this management is doing?
I’m in support of Milan.
This management, just like the previous is incompetent, but at the end of the day management doesn’t play on the pitch, players do. And Milan supposed best players play like trash, while inter supposed best players play like best players on the team should.
If your 3 best players, your backbone, your foundation are usually your worst players week in week out, it won’t matter who is the coach, who is in Milan management or who has the ownership of Milan.
But isn’t it interesting that all of our players, with the exception of Reijnders, either stalled or regressed, whereas almost all Inter’s players have improved in a way or another ?
In our case, even Maignan, an non-outfield player has regressed and all of this happened under 3 differents coaches.
Did we somehow land on the players with the worst work ethics in all of Europe ? Should we add an ethic part to our search algorithm ? Or maybe there is more to it ?
“… but at the end of the day management doesn’t play on the pitch, players do. And Milan supposed best players play like trash, while inter supposed best players play like best players on the team should.”
So how’s that not management related? Look at Chelsea. Look at Manchester United. We’re there. Good players, bad team structure, rotten management.
I think two things can be true at the same time. This management clearly knows finance to drag Milan out of the debt and stabilize it financially. But also the same management has no sporting sense to actually improve the team on the pitch. So far it’s been disjointed and disassembled from what Maldini had put together.
When there’s discord in the organization, no sporting plan, no clear strategy, there’s nothing for players to buy into. It becomes soulless, kinda of like what we’re seeing now. Disjointed performances of a poorly assembled team. I do agree that the players need to be professional and give 100% every game. But we are all human – it’s tough to be motivated in that environment.
🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Not gonna lie. Watching people lose their collective sh!ts about ‘he who can’t be named’ during the last few days has been quite enjoyable 😁😂😂😂
City please buy the combo ( pulisic + reijnders) about 150m. And the rest it’s history…