Tijjani Reijnders

Tijjani Reijnders

Reijnders with AC Milan in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Tijjani Martinus Jan Reijnders
Date of birth	(1998-07-29) 29 July 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth	Zwolle, Netherlands
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	AC Milan
Number	14
Youth career
2003–2007	WVF Zwolle
2007–2011	FC Zwolle
2011–2015	FC Twente
2015–2016	CSV '28
2016–2017	PEC Zwolle
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017	PEC Zwolle	1	(0)
2017–2021	Jong AZ	92	(19)
2018–2023	AZ	93	(7)
2020	→ RKC Waalwijk (loan)	8	(0)
2023–	AC Milan	32	(2)
International career‡
2018–2019	Netherlands U20	3	(0)
2023–	Netherlands	8	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:22, 27 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024

After representing various Dutch junior teams, he began his career with his hometown club, PEC Zwolle, before moving to fellow Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the 2017−18 season, where he was loaned to RKC Waalwijk until the conclusion of the 2019−20 season. After returning from his loan, he was named Team of the Month in September 2022 and April 2023, while he also managed to play in the Europa Conference League semi-finals before being signed with the Italian team AC Milan in the summer 2023.

Reijnders is a Dutch international, having progressed from the under-20 level onwards. He made his senior international debut for the country in September 2023.

Born in Zwolle, Reijnders is the son of Martin Reynders, and the brother of Eliano Reijnders who are also professional footballers. Reijnders is of Indonesian descent through his mother.

Despite not having any Nigerian ancestry, he is named after Nigerian footballer Tijani Babangida.

Early career

Reijnders' role in the football scene started at a young age, where he started his career with the FC Twente youth team. It's just that he played at FC Twente until the U-17 team before being released to CSV '28 and playing for one year from 2015 to 2016.

In 2016, Reijnders joined his homeland team PEC Zwolle U-19 where he then moved up the level and appeared in the Eredivisie club's first team. Even at PEC Zwolle, Reijnders only played one year.

AZ Alkmaar

In 2017, development of his career accelerated rapidly. From working at a local Aldi supermarket and training in Zwolle, he crossed over to AZ's Under-21 team and moved up to the first professional team in 2018.

In 2020, he was loaned to RKC Waalwijk for six months, from January to June. Afterwards, Reijnders returned to AZ and became part of the first team, in which he managed to play in the 2022–23 Europa Conference League semi-finals.

AC Milan

On 19 July 2023, Reijnders joined Serie A club AC Milan, signing a five-year contract until June 2028. On 21 August, he made his first competitive start for Rossoneri in a Serie A match against Bologna. On 11 November, in a Serie A match against Lecce at Stadio Via del mare, Reijnders scored his debut goal for Milan.

As a result of his family background, Reijnders was eligible to represent Indonesia or the Netherlands. On February 2022, it was reported that the head coach of the Indonesia national football team at that time, Shin Tae-yong, had tried to call him up, but he declined the opportunity.

In June 2023, Reijnders received his first official call-up to the Netherlands national team for the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.

On 7 September 2023, Reijnders made his Netherlands debut as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Greece in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier. On 13 October, he made his first start as the Netherlands were defeated 2–1 by France in the same competition.

Reijnders is a mobile central midfielder with the penchant for going forward into the final third and the opposition's penalty area, to either make attempts at scoring or to press opponents.

Upon his transfer to Milan, he was immediately integrated into the team's starting XI by manager Stefano Pioli as a left-sided central midfielder, known as mezzala in Italy, in a 4–3–3 formation. He also played as part of the double pivot in a 4–2–3–1 formation, again primarily on the left despite being right-footed.

According to Reijnders, tactical reasons played a somewhat significant role in him choosing AC Milan over FC Barcelona as his proposed playing position in the latter team would have limited his movement.

Club

As of match played 27 April 2024