Tijjani Reijnders has completed his move to Manchester City ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
The Dutch star was confirmed as an official City player on Wednesday as Pep Guardiola made Reijnders his top target for the number eight role in his team heading into the summer transfer window.
Midfield was identified as an area of weakness last season by Guardiola, especially after Rodri’s long-term injury, and the 26-year-old is a perfect fit for Man City and the Premier League as his attributes suit the English game.
Speaking about Man City’s summer signings, former Aston Villa star Nigel Reo-Coker believes Reijnders is the best so far, and has even compared the Dutch star to a Premier League great.
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Tijjani Reijnders is similar to Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard is regarded as one of the best players to ever play in the Premier League, having played for West Ham, Chelsea, and Man City across his illustrious career.
The Blues legend was known for being a great goalscoring midfielder, and speaking about Reijnders, Reo-Coker sees traits of the Englishman in Man City’s new signing.
“When I look at the signing so far, I would say for me, the one that stands out, who has the right attributes to be impactful instantly in the Premier League, is Reijnders,” the pundit said on CBS Sports.
“Reijnders, for me, is a goal-scoring midfielder who doesn’t need to get too involved in the play, and luckily, they’ve got Rodri coming back in now, that’s going to be his job. He’s going to be the one that dictates the pace for Manchester City, getting the ball off the back line, making these little passes.
“All Reijnders has to do is use the players around him and get into the box and add goals to his game, if I would say, and I like to say this, but America don’t like it that much. He reminds me of Frank Lampard, a goal-scoring midfielder.
“I’m not saying they’re the same player, but the impact he’ll have on arriving, on time, late into the box, which were the best qualities of Frank Lampard. For me, he’s got that little bit that you could say, late arrivals, and we’ll get goals in the Premier League.”
Reijnders is excited to work with Guardiola at Man City, and the legendary coach is expected to bring out the best in the Dutch star, who scored 15 goals in all competitions last season.
The 26-year-old will hope to better that at his new club, which will begin at the FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament Reo-Coker thinks will have a big impact on Man City’s 2025/26 campaign.
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Nigel Reo-Coker thinks the Club World Cup will affect Man City
Man City get their FIFA Club World Cup campaign underway on June 18 against Wydad AC, and if they go all the way, their time in America will not end until July 13.
This would give Guardiola’s squad very little rest and also little time to prepare for the new Premier League campaign, and Reo-Coker feels it could have an impact on the Manchester club challenging Liverpool and Arsenal for the Premier League next season.
“Just quickly, I would say, what people would say as well, is the Club World Cup might play a bit of a disadvantage in the long term of going into a Premier League season, ” the CBS pundit said.
“When you look at the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal getting that rest and Liverpool’s reinforcements that they’re making, makes them for me strong favourites to repeat winning the Premier League title again if they get those players.”
Only time will tell how much of an impact the Club World Cup will have on the teams involved, but one thing is for certain is that it is not a positive thing for Manchester City.
