City's Midfield Overhaul: Tijjani Reijnders Sold to Al Qadsiah
City’s midfield overhaul has claimed another high‑profile name. According to The Independent, the club have agreed a £51 million deal to sell Tijjani Reijnders to Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah, drawing a line under the Dutchman’s stay in Manchester after just one season.
Reijnders has already shaken hands on personal terms with the Saudi club, clearing the way for a lucrative move that hands City a tidy profit. Signed from AC Milan last summer for £46.5m, the Netherlands international departs having nudged City’s outgoing business this window to around £100m.
On the pitch, his numbers were solid if not spectacular: seven goals in 47 appearances in all competitions. He arrived with energy, pressed aggressively, and at first looked like he might nail down a long-term role. Then the reality of City’s pecking order bit hard.
Pep Guardiola consistently leaned on his trusted axis of captain Bernardo Silva and Rodri in the middle of the pitch. As the season wore on, Reijnders’ minutes shrank and his starting spot slipped away. Nottingham Forest tested the waters with domestic interest, but the financial muscle and project on offer in Saudi Arabia ultimately won out.
Now, the picture at City’s core looks almost unrecognisable. Silva has gone. Rodri is being heavily courted by Barcelona. The spine that defined an era is being dismantled piece by piece, and Reijnders is part of the collateral.
What the club have gained is serious financial firepower. Sales of Reijnders, Nathan Ake and James Trafford have taken the window’s income to the £100m mark, giving the hierarchy room to be aggressive. Ake has joined Fenerbahce, Trafford has completed a permanent move to Leeds United, and the message from the boardroom is blunt: the squad is being ripped up and rebuilt after years of leaning on seasoned veterans.
The response has been anything but cautious. City have already fired back into the market with a staggering £116m swoop for Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, a statement deal that underlines their refusal to stand still in the chase for trophies. This is not a club trimming around the edges; it is a full-scale reconfiguration.
Reijnders, then, becomes a symbol of the ruthlessness of this transition. One year in, out the door, and straight into the balance sheet. His exit clears space and frees cash for the next phase of City’s midfield reset.
That next phase could be explosive. Inside the recruitment department, attention is already locked on several marquee options across Europe. Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez has emerged as a surprise name on City’s list, a potential blockbuster move that would send shockwaves through the Premier League. Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi is also being closely monitored as the club weigh up different profiles for their new-look engine room.
As Reijnders prepares to start again at Al Qadsiah, City are only halfway through their own transformation. The money is there, the gaps in midfield are obvious, and the market is moving. Who they choose to fill that void may define the next chapter of their era.
