Why did Tijjani Reijnders fail at Manchester City?

Having arrived at Manchester City as the top midfielder in Serie A for 2024-25, Tijjani Reijnders has chosen to depart after only one season. This 28-year-old talent is set to join Al Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League.

Manchester City Could Not Keep Tijjani Reijnders

"It's very difficult to convince players when they have already convinced themselves," Enzo Maresca said on Friday regarding Tijjani Reijnders' potential move to Al Qadsiah, just one year after joining Manchester City. "You need to change their mindset, and that's not always easy."

Earlier in the preseason, Maresca revealed that James Trafford, who moved to Leeds United, and Omar Marmoush, who may still leave the club, entered the summer with a decision to leave already made due to frustrations from the previous season. "Tijjani's situation is similar to James Trafford's, and there are a few other players as well. But I think when the club, the player, and the coach all agree that the best decision for the player is probably to leave, then you have to let them go."

So what happened? One of the key signings in Manchester City's much-needed squad overhaul last summer is set to depart after just one year. And as Maresca hinted when discussing Marmoush, who joined the club 18 months ago, this is not an isolated case.

There were many appealing aspects to Reijnders' playing style. He arrived at Manchester City as the Serie A Player of the Season the previous year, standing out for his dribbling, game control, and goal-scoring. Those qualities suggested he could make a real impact at any team.

Manchester City desperately needed fresh energy in midfield after a disastrous 2024-25 season, winning only 11 of 35 matches from October to March. With Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan departing, Reijnders seemed exactly the type of player to bring the energy and creativity the team required.

In recent years, Manchester City have prioritized players who can beat opponents with dribbling skills, and Reijnders fit that criterion. The idea behind some of last summer's signings was to bring in players with qualities that could make a difference in the Premier League, while believing their weaknesses could be improved.

However, Reijnders already had some limitations, and those weaknesses ultimately proved significant. Even during his outstanding season in Italy, he contributed very little defensively. Reijnders lacked the sharpness needed to anticipate where second balls would drop, let alone the ability to win them.

15 goals in all competitions in 2023-24 was Reijnders' best scoring record by a wide margin. In fact, it was the only season he scored more than 7 goals in a single campaign (in 2022-23, his tally improved thanks to 3 goals in Conference League qualifiers).

If you remove the goals from Reijnders' game, along with his limited defensive contributions, you get a much less impressive player. He is also 28 years old, meaning he should have had a string of standout seasons behind him before making the move to Manchester.

Reijnders Had No Ideal Position at Manchester City

Another issue may have been that Reijnders lacked a clear position in the Manchester City lineup to fully utilize his abilities.

Pep Guardiola wanted to exploit Reijnders' goal-scoring ability by pushing him higher up the pitch, operating in areas around Erling Haaland, similar to how Gundogan would quietly make runs into the box to find chances.

"We know he is a special player when it comes to entering the box," Guardiola said last summer. "The Italians know him very well. He can play as a defensive midfielder but likes to enter the box to support forwards like Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush."

Reijnders did occasionally "enter" the box, appearing at the edge of the 18-yard area to receive cutbacks. But when opponents dropped deep against Manchester City, he was often stationed in an advanced position. This usage didn't seem to bring out the best in him.

After an impressive Premier League debut against Wolves, Reijnders found it increasingly difficult to reproduce the creative spark and goal-scoring form he displayed at Molineux. Nevertheless, he was still regularly selected by Guardiola for months, especially during the period when the Spanish coach maintained an almost unchanged lineup for weeks on end.

Curiously, after a burst of form in December and early January, scoring 4 goals in 7 Premier League matches — a run that suggested Reijnders had finally found his footing — he was suddenly dropped from the squad.

Sources around Guardiola's coaching staff said Reijnders was not used in a deeper role, which had suited him well in Italy, simply because Manchester City did not need him to do that job with Bernardo Silva and Rodri available, especially after the Spanish midfielder returned from injury in January.

From the beginning of February until the end of the season, Reijnders was not brought on from the bench in 9 of Manchester City's 14 Premier League matches and started only 2 games.

Sources close to the Dutch international, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said Reijnders felt the club did not truly trust him and began to consider leaving. This happened even though he and his wife had adapted well to life in Manchester and built relationships with teammates.

"Every day they train, every day they go through sessions, and on weekends they want to play," Maresca added on Friday regarding players like Reijnders who want to leave the club.

"When they don't play, they struggle to understand or find the reason why. I can understand that after a season, some of them want to play a bit more. That's a normal situation."

Manchester City Could See Major Changes in Midfield

Manchester City are likely to undergo a significant overhaul in midfield this summer. Barcelona are pushing to sign Rodri, while Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez are both potential arrivals at the Etihad, after Elliot Anderson had already joined the club during the World Cup.

If he had stayed, Reijnders might have had the chance to play in a deeper position. That might not have completely solved his problems when Manchester City were out of possession, but at least it would have given him more opportunities to showcase other qualities.

"The way he played in preseason matches left me quite satisfied with his overall performance," Maresca said. "Because I know Tiji from Italy, from his time at Milan. I understand him quite well and know that perhaps he used to play in a different position. He likes to play a bit deeper rather than staying high up the pitch. But again, in preseason, he played well. Now we'll see what happens and make a decision."

Another issue is that several players recently signed by Manchester City want to leave, raising questions about whether they were truly a fit for the club from the start.

Marmoush also seems to have fallen short of the standard Manchester City required, though to be fair, it's very difficult for a player to sit on the bench every week and only play when Haaland is rested or unavailable. Rayan Ait-Nouri also admitted that there were times last season when he "wasn't really happy," but he is now content to stay and work with Maresca. Nico Gonzalez is another case. He was consistently overlooked last season but insisted he had no problem with being a substitute as long as the team continued to perform well.

Since Manchester City began their rebuilding process in January 2025, they have signed Marmoush, Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Rayan Cherki, Reijnders, Ait-Nouri, Trafford, Marcus Bettinelli, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Antoine Semenyo, and Marc Guehi.

Khusanov and Cherki have shown promise, while Donnarumma brings some much-needed qualities, though he still has certain limitations. Reis was sent on loan but is still highly rated behind the scenes. Bettinelli is the third-choice goalkeeper. However, Trafford has left, Marmoush and Reijnders are set to depart, Ait-Nouri is looking for a breakthrough season, and Gonzalez is behind Mateo Kovacic in Maresca's pecking order.

Semenyo and Guehi, signed in January, appear to be significant upgrades. Manchester City will hope the rest of their summer transfer business is equally impressive.

Reijnders and the Question of Manchester City's Transfer Quality

The final weeks of this transfer window will be particularly important for Manchester City, and perhaps also for sporting director Hugo Viana, who has overseen many deals over the past 18 months since replacing Txiki Begiristain.

Reijnders seemed to meet many of the criteria Manchester City were looking for. But in the end, he was deemed not to fit what the team needed, and the club decided to cut their losses, despite the change in coach potentially offering a fresh start.

The move to Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia means we may never know how well Reijnders truly suited the Premier League or top-level football in general. It is also difficult to fully assess him when he leaves Manchester City after just one season.

However, concerns were present from the beginning. And ultimately, those issues contributed to making the Reijnders deal a failed transfer.