Tijjani Reijnders
Personal information
Full name Tijjani Martinus Jan Reijnders
Date of birth (1998-07-29) 29 July 1998
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 20 (2)
International career‡
2018–2019 Netherlands U20 3 (0)
2023– Netherlands 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:22, 14 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 November 2023

Tijjani Martinus Jan Reijnders (born 29 July 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan and the Netherlands national team.

Early life

Born in Zwolle, Reijnders is the son of Martin Reynders, and the brother of Eliano Reijnders who are also professional footballers.[1] Reijnders is of Moluccan descent through his mother.[2]

Club career

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.[3]

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.[4]

In 2020, he was loaned to RKC Waalwijk for six months, from January to June.[5] 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.[6]

AC Milan

On 19 July 2023, Reijnders joined Serie A club AC Milan, signing a five-year contract until June 2028.[7] On 21 August, he made his first competitive start for Rossoneri in a Serie A match against Bologna.[8] On 11 November, in a Serie A match against Lecce at Stadio Via del mare, Reijnders scored his debut goal for Milan.[9]

International career

Reijnders was eligible to represent the Indonesia national football team through his Moluccan mother and rejected an offer to switch his international allegiance from the Netherlands to the South East Asian nation in February 2022.[10]

In June 2023, Reijnders received his first official call-up to the Netherlands national team for the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.[11]

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.[12] On 13 October, he made his first start as the Netherlands were defeated 2–1 by France in the same competition.[13]

Style of play

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.

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.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
PEC Zwolle 2017–18 Eredivisie 10——10
AZ Alkmaar 2017–18 Eredivisie 10——10
2018–19 Eredivisie 0010—10
2019–20 Eredivisie 30——30
2020–21 Eredivisie 22000—220
2021–22 Eredivisie 366407[lower-alpha 2]0476
2022–23 Eredivisie 3432018[lower-alpha 2]4547
Total 9697025412813
Jong AZ 2017–18 Eerste Divisie 326——326
2018–19 Eerste Divisie 368——368
2019–20 Eerste Divisie 163——163
2020–21 Eerste Divisie 82——82
Total 9219——9219
RKC Waalwijk (loan) 2019–20 Eredivisie 80——80
AC Milan 2023–24 Serie A 202206[lower-alpha 3]0282
Career total 217309031425734

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Reijnders in voetspoor vader". www.peperbus.nl.
  2. ↑ "Broederliefde - Interview with Tijjani and Eliano Reijnders". June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Profil Tijjani Reijnders, Gelandang Andalan Eredivisie Keturunan Indonesia" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Reijnders promoveert naar A-selectie". www.az.nl. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  5. ↑ "RKC Waalwijk huurt middenvelder Tijjani Reijnders van AZ". BD. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Glanzlos, aber effizient: West Ham schlägt Alkmaar und steht im Endspiel" (in German). Kicker. 18 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Official Statement: Tijjani Reijnders". AC Milan. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Bologna 0-2 AC Milan (Aug 21, 2023)". ESPN. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Lecce 2-2 AC Milan (Nov 11, 2023)". ESPN. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Tijjani Reijnders, Gelandang Berdarah Indonesia Gabung AC Milan". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Oranjeselectie voor de UEFA Nations League Finals" [National team squad for the Nations League Finals] (in Dutch). 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "REIJNDERS DEBUTS WITH THE NETHERLANDS, VICTORY FOR KJÆR". A.C. Milan. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "Met mes op de keel, maar toch trekt Oranje vol vertrouwen naar Griekenland: "We hadden een goede mentaliteit tegen Frankrijk"". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 16 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  14. ↑ https://sempremilan.com/reijnders-role-pioli-milan-over-barcelona
  15. ↑ "Tijjani Reijnders". Soccerway.com.
  16. ↑ "Eight clubs represent the Eredivisie Team of the Month for April". Eredivisie. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
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