Stuart Pearce gives glowing seal of approval to Manchester City summer signings | OneFootball

Former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has delivered his verdict on the club’s summer acquisitions of Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

City have made six first-team signings in this window so far and with the exception of Sverre Nypan – who has joined Middlesbrough on loan for the 2025-26 campaign – Guardiola has been handed a much-needed veil of fresh blood to work with for the coming seasons.

Reijnders keeps getting Manchester City off the edge of their seats with commanding performance after another, recently running the show in his new club’s 4-0 triumph over Wolves in their opening game of the Premier League campaign.

The Netherlands international opened his Manchester City account and played a crucial hand in each of Erling Haaland’s goals as Guardiola’s men made a statement start to their new season as they aim to win a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

The win against Wolves also saw Rayan Cherki score on his Premier League debut, with City’s summer signings looking part after a busy window, as academy graduate James Trafford also kept a clean sheet on his first senior appearance for Manchester City – having returned to the Etihad Stadium this summer after two seasons at Burnley.

Speaking in a new interview with BestBettingSites.co.uk, former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has delivered his verdict on the respective arrival(s) of Ait-Nouri and Reijnders, who have made a fast start to life under Guardiola.

“With Kyle Walker leaving, City needed pace to come from one of the wide areas, and they haven’t really had that without him. I think they wanted someone with that pace to produce one-on-one situations,” said Pearce on the arrival of Ait-Nouri from Wolves.

“The best teams have that, and if they dominate the ball that much, they can push one of their wide defenders forward. Pep (Guardiola) is happy to play a more advanced player at left-back, that works for City. Whether it would work at a club who aren’t as dominant as City on the ball, I’m not so sure. Ait-Nouri has the attributes that Pep looks for in his full-backs. “

Less than three months into his £47 million arrival from AC Milan, Reijnders already looks like the signing of the summer after assuming the role of architect-in-chief against Wolves to stamp his mark further on a side that is missing Ballon d’Or holder Rodri and bid farewell to Kevin De Bruyne earlier this summer.

“Tijjani Reijnders has had an excellent start, got his goal on his debut and put in some impressive performances during City’s pre-season,” added Pearce in glowing praise of the Netherlands international, who has impressed the former Manchester City boss the most amongst the club’s contingent of summer signings.

“From what I’ve seen so far, in the short period of time that he (Reijnders) has been on these shores, he seems to have settled into English football well.

“That’s the main concern that you have when you bring a player in from abroad to play in the Premier League. But he (Reijnders) seems to have picked that up pretty well and got a good understanding with his team-mates.”