GdS: Quality, reliability and a smile – how Reijnders won over everyone at Milan

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·2 October 2023

GdS: Quality, reliability and a smile – how Reijnders won over everyone at Milan

Tijjani Reijnders was the summer signing that AC Milan made that perhaps generated the most intrigue, given the task of helping replace Sandro Tonali and the club he came from.

However, as La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, Reijnders is already the heart of Milan. In the midfield it is he who gives life to the team’s play, whether it is recovering the ball, build-up play or finding himself in dangerous positions to shoot.

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He has already convinced the Rossoneri fans who shower him with affection: he notices it at San Siro or when he walks around the streets of the city. As on the pitch, he chose to settle in the centre, near Porta Garibaldi and Corso Como.

The ‘tireless Tijjani’ does everything in a hurry it seems. He arrived from AZ Alkmaar and quickly proved his quality and reliability, given he is the player in the Milan squad with the most minutes in Serie A so far.

Reijnders showed up at San Siro without fear, moving from the Afas Stadion – the home of AZ with 19,500 fans – to the 70,000+ at San Siro without difficulty.

Pioli is a big admirer of the Dutchman because he has technique, he lets the ball travel and when he can he appears in the opposition’s 18-yard box.

He has already provided two assists: the first on his debut for the Rossoneri in Bologna and the other against Cagliari for Fikayo Tomori’s goal. He hasn’t scored yet, but he knows how to do it having netted 7 goals last season in the Netherlands, plus 6 in the previous one.

Reijnders was picked out as the ideal player to come in and help rebuild the midfield by Pioli and the club complied with the requests of the coach, as Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada agreed a deal with AZ worth €20m plus €5m in bonuses.

The love Milan have for Reijnders is reciprocated because the player was an admirer of the club growing up, so in the summer he also rejected the attempts of Barcelona because he wanted the Rossoneri.

It wasn’t easy to replace a player with proven Milan faith in Sandro Tonali but in just a few weeks Tijjani has earned respect and affection.

His relationship with his team-mates is also solid: Leao tagged him in an Instagram story, in which he asked if he needed his assists to score and adding that ‘the goal awaits you, brother’. Reijnders reposted it with a dedication: “It will come, brother.”

Pioli meanwhile has a bit of a dilemma. He must decide whether to keep Reijnders as mezzala – in the role that best suits him – or temporarily transform him into a regista.

After Adli’s exit against Lazio, the 25-year-old played in front of the defence and dictated the tempo punctually. Musah instead did well as a right midfielder in place of the injured Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Against Dortmund we will see what Pioli has planned, but the certainty is that Reijnders will be there, as always so far: 8 appearances out of 8. In Serie A he was the most used: five times out of seven he remained on the pitch for 90 minutes.