Manchester City’s first major move of the 2025 summer window is almost over the line. Multiple outlets in England, Italy and Spain report that the Premier League champions have struck a €70 million (£59.4 m) package with AC Milan for Dutch play-maker Tijjani Reijnders. The agreement – €55 m up-front plus €15 m in extras tied to appearances and Champions-League progress – should see the 26-year-old fly to Manchester for a medical within the next 48 hours, in time to join Pep Guardiola’s squad on their pre-season trip to the United States.

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Why Guardiola pushed for Reijnders

Kevin De Bruyne’s January move to Saudi Arabia and a season-ending injury to Mateo Kovačić left City short of line-breaking passes and high-energy pressing. Reijnders solves both issues. Voted Serie A Midfielder of the Year after 15 goals, five assists and the league’s best ratio of progressive passes per 90, he also covered more distance than any Milan player in 2024-25. Club data analysts believe those running numbers dovetail perfectly with Rodri’s sitting role and will free Phil Foden to operate higher between the lines.

Pep was equally attracted by personality: Dutch legend Frank Rijkaard recently hailed the Zwolle-born play-maker as “the most balanced all-round Dutch midfielder since Seedorf”. Those references mattered, because Guardiola insisted in early May that City “need leaders, not projects” after ending 2024-25 without silverware for the first time in five seasons.

Inside the deal

City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain opened with a €60 m bid that Milan rejected. The Rossoneri hierarchy held firm on a €70 m headline figure, pointing to Reijnders’ contract until 2029 and rival enquiries from Bayern Munich and Arsenal. A breakthrough came when City agreed to front-load €55 m this summer; the rest arrives via bonuses that are realistically achievable.

Reijnders has accepted a five-year contract worth about £210,000 per week, slightly below De Bruyne’s old terms but comfortably inside City’s top-earner bracket. His entourage negotiated a loyalty bonus plus a pay-rise trigger if he reaches 25 direct goal involvements in any single season.

What Milan gain – and lose

For Milan the sale is a sporting blow but a Financial Fair Play boost. Reijnders cost just €19 m from AZ two summers ago; flipping him for treble that sum produces a significant capital gain and plugs budget holes after an €85 m deficit last year. Sporting director Geoffrey Moncada has already short-listed Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana and PSV’s Joey Veerman to redistribute the windfall, while veteran Luka Modrić is seen as a short-term mentor for Yunus Musah and Tommaso Pobega.

Not everyone in Lombardy is happy. Milan fan-site columns call the sale “a dangerous signal” after Sandro Tonali’s exit 12 months ago, though some accept that a €70 m cheque is hard to refuse for a club still outside the Champions-League money.

The fit at City

On paper Reijnders slides directly into the left-half space vacated by De Bruyne in Guardiola’s 3-2-2-3 build-up. He is two-footed, scans early and rarely loses the ball (just four dispossessions per 90 last term). City coaches also like that he wins possession back more often than any City midfielder not named Rodri, providing the defensive bite that allows Foden or Bernardo Silva to stay higher.

Guardiola’s plan is to debut him as a single pivot in the Club World Cup warm-up against Inter Miami before trialling him alongside Rodri in a double-six against Monterrey. Should those experiments work, City expect little drop-off even if they fail to land another marquee creative signing.

Market impact and reaction

The news nudged bookmakers to trim City from 7/2 to 3/1 in early Champions-League outright odds, while Milan slid behind Juventus and Napoli in some Serie A books. City supporters on fan-sites greeted headlines of “Pep’s Dream Midfielder Secured”; Milan blogs veered between pride in Reijnders’ development and frustration at losing a 26-year-old cornerstone.

What happens next

Reijnders is scheduled to land at Manchester Airport on Thursday morning. Barring medical surprises, the club will unveil him on Friday with the No 18 shirt. His first competitive minutes could come in the Club World Cup opener on 21 June. Milan, meanwhile, want at least one midfield signing wrapped up before Paulo Fonseca’s squad reports on 10 July. Whether that is Modrić, Fofana or another surprise name depends on how fast the Reijnders cash hits their books.

City, for their part, believe they have addressed their biggest tactical hole in one decisive stroke; the question now is whether that €70 m outlay proves as transformative on the pitch as it looks on paper.

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