Despite only joining Manchester City last summer for £46.3m, Tijjani Reijnders could be on his way out after just one season at the club.
The 28-year-old was signed from AC Milan in the 2025/26 summer window, as Pep Guardiola looked to bolster his midfield options.
Both Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan left the club that summer, with Reijnders and Rayan Cherki coming in to replace them.
Reijnders made 47 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals, providing seven assists and totaling 2,810 minutes played.
Now after just one season at the club, Manchester City look set to cash in on the Dutch international, with Nottingham Forest favourites for his signature.
In this article, we’ll cover
What went wrong?
When asking the question of where it went wrong for Reijnders at Manchester City, the word that comes to mind is balance.
Reijnders’ profile is that of a box to box midfielder, looking to drive forwards with the ball, make runs ahead of the ball and crash the box to score goals.
That was very much the role of Gundogan at Manchester City in years prior, ghosting around the box, adding goals and making clever movements to arrive in dangerous positions in and around the box.
However, Manchester City were also contending with the loss of De Bruyne, their main creative spark and primary passer.
With Erling Haaland already being the main threat in the box, it was actually Nico O’Reilly who become that secondary box crasher, adding important goals and Gundogan esc qualities in the opposition third.
This saw Guardiola looking to balance things in the midfield, with Rodri returning to his usual defensive midfield role and Bernardo Silva often joining him to help platform others and give that sense of control.
One spot remained in the midfield, that more attacking option as a number 10 and especially in the second half of the season as things come together, it was Cherki who replaced the creation and passing quality of De Bruyne to help balance things out.
Naturally, this saw Reijnders lose his spot, with City not looking to utilise his skillset as often as they did at the start of the new campaign.
Carrier
One of Reijnders’ biggest strengths is his ability to drive forward with the ball in central areas, creating tensions on the opposition block.
The Dutch midfielder has a knack for receiving the ball in tight spaces, changing his rhythm to wriggle out of danger and then accelerating and striding into space ahead of him.
Reijnders has good usage of both feet to manipulate the ball in tight spaces, uses his frame to protect the ball nicely and understands different angles of his carries to create 1v1s and toy with the opposition’s momentum.
This is something the Dutch midfielder can offer his side, driving out from the back and progressing the ball via carries into the final third, accelerating play in that middle third.
With man to man pressing becoming more and more common, Reijnders’ ability to outplay in 1v1 scenarios anywhere on the pitch through his dribbling would be a great asset for plenty of Premier League clubs.
Box crashing and movement
But it doesn’t stop there for what Reijnders can offer, as the box to box midfielder has some excellent traits in the final third.
His relentless nature to provide forward runs, and more importantly, selfless runs, is a truly underrated trait in this era.
With so many players wanting to receive the ball to feet, having dynamic movers ahead of the ball gives them options and forces the opposition defensive unit to make decisions.
In his AC Milan days, Reijnders would often do this from a double pivot, arriving in the final third in that left half space, but with Manchester City, he showcased that movement as more of a number 10, playing closely with Haaland.
Reijnders has a nose for goal when he finds himself in and around the opposition box, which he showcased early in his Manchester City career.
The 28-year-old midfielder scored on his Premier League debut against Wolves and also went on a little hot streak during the festive period, netting four goals in seven games.
From an expected goals tally of 4.5 xG, Reijnders scored five times, also taking 49 shots, getting 16 of those on target and managing 76 touches in the opposition box.
Potential Forest fit?
The big player Nottingham Forest will be without next season is Elliot Anderson, who coincidentally joined Manchester City for £116m this summer.
Forest, now coached by Oliver Glasner, have already signed Xaver Schlager on a free from RB Leipzig in midfield, as well as Gustavo Sa as a more attacking option in the pockets.
Glasner was known for his 3-4-2-1 shape at Crystal Palace, but has stated in the past his personal favourite system is a classic 4-4-2.
This would be very different to Forest’s 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 last season, but Reijnders could suit the verticality of a Glasner side.
Reijnders wants to drive forwards, commit players in central areas and attack space ahead of him, but he is also a good progressive and vertical passer when given that responsibility.,
Either partnering another midfielder in a double pivot (as a more expressive type) or even playing as one of the number 10s, Reijnders could be a real asset for Forest under Glasner.
The likes of Reijnders and Morgan Gibbs-White would give Forest a physical set of players in central areas, getting on the ball between the lines, driving at the opposition defence and crashing the box to score important goals.
Forest could be the move for Reijnders to rediscover his best form, contribute in all phases and truly stake his claim in the Premier League.