Senior football executives flabbergasted with Manchester City’s shrewd £45M signing

Senior figures within football have been left in astonishment after Manchester City secured the arrival of Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan for just £45 million this summer, as per a new report.

Reijnders has made an excellent start to life at the Etihad Stadium, assuming the role of architect-in-chief from midfield since his arrival in June as Manchester City embark upon their first season without Kevin De Bruyne since 2015.

The 26-year-old’s flair, pace, finishing and ability to slice open defences have all come into play early into his Manchester City career, with many asking the question of how City had a fairly open run at the Netherlands international in the summer transfer window.

City conducted a major overhaul of their first-team squad in the summer after the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football, with all of De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan and James McAtee leaving permanently.

The Blues have also sanctioned a series of season-long loans to agree with Pep Guardiola’s recurring requests of working with a cut-throat squad, with Manchester City bosses also trimming the first-team wage bill over the course of the recent window.

City had identified Florian Wirtz as their ideal replacement for De Bruyne – who was shown the door at the end of his contract, much to his bewilderment – but the 22-year-old Germany international decided to join title rivals and current English champions Liverpool for £116 million.

Viana and co swiftly moved on to other targets, identifying and seeing off competition across Europe for France’s Rayan Cherki, with the attacking midfielder signing from Lyon for £34 million, having scored and assisted on his international debut after coming off the bench against Spain in the UEFA Nations League in June.

However, it is Reijnders who has left the footballing world wondering as to how Manchester City were able to secure a deal for the midfielder with AC Milan for what has been touted as a cut-price £45 million figure, as per The Athletic.

Reijnders produced an all-time great Premier League debut in Manchester City’s opening day 4-0 rout of Wolves at the Molineux Stadium, scoring his first Premier League goal and playing a crucial role in City’s attacking play throughout.

However, Manchester City have lacked genuine attacking threat in recent games, suffering back-to-back losses against Tottenham and Brighton before the international break. Pep Guardiola and his men have a chance to return to winning ways against Manchester United on Sunday evening.

City have a tricky run of games to follow the Manchester derby, with De Bruyne set for an emotional return to the Etihad Stadium next week as Napoli face Manchester City in their opening UEFA Champions League group-stage tie.

Guardiola will be hopeful that Reijnders can lead his side to victory on Sunday, with City missing Cherki through injury as there remains little room for error in the title race given their recent run of results – with Liverpool and Arsenal each making strong starts to the campaign.