Tijjani Reijnders believes that he can improve under his new head coach Pep Guardiola, having completed a move to Manchester City.
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Reijnders left the Dutch national team camp over the week to do his medical, and the move was made official by both clubs on Wednesday. Milan lose the midfielder of the year in Serie A for 2024-25, while City potentially gain Kevin de Bruyne’s replacement.
According to Matteo Moretto, the fixed base of the transfer is set at €57m, while there are an additional €14m in bonuses. €7m of these bonuses are easy to achieve, while the rest is a bit more difficult. So, in other words, the Rossoneri can bank on getting around €64m, potentially more.
Reijnders react to move
Reijnders gave some comments to the Manchester City official channel after his move was made official and he spoke excitedly about working with Guardiola.
“It’s a great chance for me. I’ve followed him since he was coaching Barcelona with Lionel Messi. How he played there and how he brought it here is something that made me really excited to play for Manchester City,” he said.
In terms of his personal aspirations at City, the Dutch international added: “For sure, to develop myself as a midfielder – to be an even more complete midfielder. Football is about winning prizes, and I hope to win as many prizes as possible here with Manchester City.
“Everybody knows how Manchester City is playing in general with the playing style. Being dominant on the pitch against opponents and playing attacking football. That’s what suits me the best.
“I’m like a box-to-box midfielder who likes to join the build-up from the back and eventually to feed attackers and create chances. Also trying to score goals by myself sometimes.”
On the Premier League, the Dutchman said: “Everybody knows it’s the biggest competition in the world.
“If you see last season how many clubs are playing against each other for the top places, the level is incredibly high. It’s a boy’s dream to play in the Premier League. Playing in the Premier League and at that intensity, I want to feel the energy.
“I think you have to think even quicker here, especially when you play for Man City the spaces are even smaller. So that’s where I want to develop more and I’m looking forward to it.”
On winning Serie A midfielder of the season, Reijnders said: “It was a big honour, especially because we had a difficult season. To still be crowned as the best midfielder was a really big honour and I was of course very happy with that prize.
“I know as a midfielder it’s important to score goals as well. Two years ago I didn’t score that many goals in a season and I was working on it that summer, looking at what I had to do better in front of the goal and this season it worked out.”