This underrated transfer may be the future of Manchester City's midfield

It’s never easy to find hope after your worst season in nearly a decade and the star Ballon D’or winning midfielder going down with a torn ACL, but Manchester City have set out to quickly fix what went wrong in their disaster (by their standards) 2024-25 campaign with a transfer window where their most important signing may come in the profile of midfielder Tijani Reijnders.

Born in the Netherlands and to an Indonesian mother, Reijnders is a part of a Dutch core that come from a mixed background, a stark contrast to their ‘Total Football’ Golden Generation that took pride in Dutch nationalism. With many of the Dutch players from Surinamese descent, they pride themselves on a combination of speed, physicality, and dribbling not often seen wearing the national team’s Orange jersey. But Reijnders is more of a throwback to the Netherlands midfielders of old, and one that is perfectly suited to a Pep Guardiola side in need of fresh blood. 

Reijnders made his breakthrough at PEC Zwolle before a move to AZ Alkmaar brought him to the light of an international audience. The Dutchman became an all-action midfielder at Alkmaar, with the ability to create chances closer to goal while also being the team’s best ball progressor through passing and dribbling. In his last season in Holland, Reijnders was the only Eredivisie player with more than 100 progressive passes (257) and progressive carries in the league (100). 

He eventually made a move to AC Milan, where he would immediately hit the ground running as a midfielder that would contribute closer to goal. While his dribbling numbers took a dip, Reijnders ranked fourth in the Serie A for goal-creating actions while still having the most progressive passes (204) on a Milan side that finished 2nd in the Serie A. 

Reijnders then went on to be a key player for the Netherlands while Frenkie De Jong was injured. He immediately became the teams chief ball progressor and captured the fans attention with his midfield-breaking dribbles. No central midfielder recorded more dribbles of over 10 meters than Reijnders, whose creative numbers around the box were also one of the best in the competition.  

Tijani Reijnders is still figuring out how good he can be

At 25 years old, despite his clear importance to his team in possession, it didn’t appear as if Reijnders had found his true specialty. This was a player who had the potential to be the world’s best deep-lying playmaker, progressing the ball forward at a rate that could catch up with Xavi and Toni Kroos of the previous generation. Or he could become more of an attacking midfielder who left the deeper midfield work to someone else, while racking up goals and assists with the best of them. Instead, in the 2024-25 season, Reijnders decided to become one of the best in the world at both of them. 

His offensive explosion was highlighted with 15 goals across all competition, while also ranking in the top 5 in the Serie A for key passes and shot-creating actions. But his deeper contributions remained, still in the top 10 for passes into the penalty area, progressive passes and carries, and through balls. His goal in the Champions League proves how Reijnders is capable of both starting and finishing off a move. 

Fighting off Eduardo Camavinga and Eder Militao, Reijnders manages to break out of a tight space before finding Rafael Leao on the wing. Knowing the centre back Militao is out of position, he continues his run forward to attack the empty space in the defense. With Antonio Rudiger having to cover the space of two centre backs, Reijnders makes a run alongside Leao waiting for Rudiger to pick him up as they go closer to goal. Once he does, Reijnders cuts inside and has completely taken Rudiger out of a dangerous area right in front of goal, setting himself up for an unchallenged finish. 

Reijnders growing goal scoring tally is in part due to his new ability around the box. While most creative midfielders hover outside the 18-yard box, using the white line as a marker to position themselves. Reijnders stays on the outside and uses the defensive line as the marker. This allows him to crash the box late and take more uncontested shots while the centre backs fight off the runs of strikers looking for cut backs closer to goal.

His performances for club and country earned him a big-money move to Manchester City, who are admittedly going through a bit of an identity crisis. With Rodri returning from injury as well as Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Nico Gonzalez and Matheus Nunes battling for the central midfield spot, Reijnders has a lot of work to do to get starting minutes immediately. But while he may not have the pressing and defensive numbers Guardiola may be looking for, nobody else in that role has the collection of offensive talents that Reijnders has. 

For Manchester City to bounce back from their turbulent season, Guardiola must blood through a fresh group of players to take the mantle from their aging stars. That includes pairing Reijnders up with Rodri while he learns to adapt to the speed and high-intensity situations of a Premier League midfield, before giving him the keys to become the midfield general of their next generation.