Tijjani Reijnders could be on his way out of Manchester City just one year after joining the club.
The 28-year-old signed from AC Milan for £46.3million last season as Pep Guardiola looked to bolster his midfield options. Both Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan had left Man City, with Reijnders and Rayan Cherki coming in to replace them.
Reijnders made 47 appearances across all competitions last season, with 28 coming in the Premier League. But only 19 of those were starts.
And now he’s being linked with a move away, with Nottingham Forest the current favourites for his signature.
In this article, we’ll cover
What went wrong?
When assessing where it went wrong for Reijnders at Man City, the word that comes to mind is balance. Reijnders is a box-to-box midfielder, looking to drive forward with the ball, making runs ahead and chrashing the box to score goals.
That was very much Gundogan’s role at Man City in years prior. The German would ghost around the box, adding goals and making clever movements to arrive in dangerous positions in and around the area.
However, Man City were also trying to deal 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-esque 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 No.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, Reijnders was the one to lose his spot, with Man City not looking to utilise his skillset as often as they did at the start of the 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 one-on-ones 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 one-on-one scenarios anywhere on the pitch through his dribbling would be a great asset for plenty of Premier League clubs.
Box crashing and movement
But Reijnders’ offering doesn’t stop there. The box-to-box midfielder also 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 Man City, he showcased that movement as more of a No.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 Man City career.
The 28-year-old midfielder scored on his Premier League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers 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, 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 Man City for £116m this summer.
Forest, now coached by Oliver Glasner, have already signed Xaver Schlager on a free transfer 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 No.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.