‘He can be very important’ – New Man City signing earns praise from his teammates after impressive debut | OneFootball

Manchester City’s new signing Tijjani Reijnders has earned the praise of his teammates after an impressive debut.

The highly-rated Dutchman joined City just over a week ago for a £46 million fee from AC Milan.

The central midfielder went straight into Pep Guardiola’s line-up for City’s first game at the FIFA Club World Cup, playing the full 90 minutes as his new team defeated Moroccan side Wydad AC 2-0.

Fellow Dutchman Nathan Ake said: “I think he could be very important.

“I know him really well. I think from the first week in training you could straight away see that he fits in really well. You see the quality he has.

“I think he did very well in midfield against Wydad in tough circumstances, but I think he kept the ball really well.

“He kept us moving and defensively as well he was very good too. He can play multiple positions, he can get in the box, he can get you moving and we know he’s got a lot of quality.”

Reijnders was not City’s only debutant, as there was also a first outing for Frenchman Rayan Cherki.

Ake continued: “With Rayan Cherki too you can see the quality he has, so I’m sure there’s loads more to come from the guys.”

Guardiola agreed with his defender’s verdict, saying: “It’s good that they played. Tijji played really good, Rayan played good moments.”

It was also a good day for Ake himself. The defender struggled with injuries across the past season, limiting him to just 10 Premier League appearances.

Yesterday he played a full 90 minutes for the first time since January 14 and explained: “On Wednesday against Wydad was the first 90 minutes in a little while.

“So obviously there is more to come, but physically I’m feeling fine and everything is good.

“It was very tough, you know, mentally and physically, you know, trying to always push, and come back as quick as possible.

“But yeah, luckily that’s gone now and hopefully I can stay fit and keep moving forward.”