AC Milan have reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Manchester City over the transfer of midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
The 26-year-old has established himself as a key figure in the Rossoneri midfield after his move from AZ Alkmaar in 2023, and he enjoyed a highly productive campaign last season with 15 goals and five assists in 54 appearances across all competitions.
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With his work ethic, energy and technical ability, his influence on our style of play and performance levels are going to be missed, as Fabrizio Romano now reports that a verbal agreement has been reached between Milan and Man City for the Dutchman, and the move will be worth around €70m in total.
It’s added that personal terms are already agreed and so now it’s a case of the formalities of the deal being finalised, and Reijnders will soon be a Man City player.
Given our inability to qualify for any European football for next season, there was always going to be a risk of having to sacrifice a key player, and it had been hoped that it wouldn’t be Reijnders given his impact last year in what was a woeful campaign for the most part for all concerned.
However, it looks as though he will be the first domino to fall as we rebuild under sporting director Igli Tare and Massimiliano Allegri, and if the touted figure of €70m is accurate, they will need to spend those funds wisely to improve and strengthen the squad to ensure we’re significantly more competitive next season.
If reports are to be believed, Reijnders won’t be the only notable outgoing this summer as speculation is linking a number of other key individuals with a possible departure, and so this will be a critical summer for Milan as we look to rebuild, but while finding a vital balance to ensure that we don’t lose too much stability and give way for a chaotic transfer window in which we’re trying to change too much and set ourselves back even further.
It promises to be a difficult task to fill the void that the Dutch international will leave behind, and it will be a major first test for Tare and Allegri as they look to implement a culture, identity and way of playing over the course of this summer.
