Manchester City are stepping up their pursuit of Tijjani Reijnders, and the AC Milan star has reportedly cancelled his holiday plans to help the move reach completion, while Pep Guardiola’s side have also been linked with a new midfielder.
There will be big changes to the Man City midfield this summer as players such as Bernardo Silva, James McAtee and Mateo Kovacic could leave alongside Kevin De Bruyne. The latter is in advanced talks to join Napoli after saying goodbye to the City faithful last week.
Guardiola wants City chiefs to engineer a rebuild to add more quality and energy to his squad, with midfield the first area that could be strengthened.
The Cityzens have landed on Milan star Reijnders as their main target for the No 8 role alongside Rodri.
City are desperate to agree a deal for Reijnders after he was named the Serie A Midfielder of the Season.
According to the Daily Mail, City are accelerating their efforts to sign the Netherlands star as they want him in the squad ready for the Club World Cup, which starts on June 15.
FIFA have brought forward the summer transfer window to Sunday, June 1. This will allow the likes of City and Chelsea to improve their teams ready for the expanded tournament.
The Mail add that Milan are expected to demand upwards of £55million (€66m / $75m) for Reijnders as he is one of their top stars.
A separate report from Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport claims Reijnders had initially planned to go on holiday to Ibiza with his family in early July.
But the player has cancelled the trip as he wants to get his City transfer over the line and play under Guardiola at the Club World Cup.
TEAMtalk revealed on May 17 that City had begun the bidding for Reijnders at £50m (€60m / $68m), which was rejected.
Milan value him as high as €90m (£75m / $102m) and it remains to be seen if the two clubs will reach a compromise.
It did not take City long to agree personal terms with the 26-year-old as he idolised Guardiola’s Barcelona team and ‘dreams’ of starring under the legendary coach.
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New City midfield target named
As per Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, City have also ‘added Ardon Jashari to their summer shortlist’.
He is a slightly different profile to Reijnders as he is a defensive midfielder who has been named the Jupiler Pro League Player of the Season.
Jashari’s ‘excellent’ campaign has seen City make ‘contact’ with Club Brugge over his availability.
With the 22-year-old’s contract running until June 2029, Brugge can demand a hefty fee before selling.
Plettenberg states that he will likely be on the move for more than €35m (£29m / $40m) this summer, which could see the record sale from a Belgian club fall.
City will face competition from Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen for Jashari.
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Who is Ardon Jashari?
BySamuel Bannister
Primarily a defensive midfielder, Jashari has impressed enough during his debut season at Club Brugge that they updated his contract halfway through it. He signed a contract until 2028 upon his arrival – which saw his former club Luzern receive a club-record fee for a sale of €6m – but by January, he had been tied down until 2029.
It was a reward for his initial impact in Belgian football and an acknowledgement that Jashari will be attracting interest from other clubs in the not-too-distant future.
Born in 2002, Jashari originally broke through from Luzern’s academy in July 2020. But it was in the 2021-22 season when he actually started to become a first-team regular, and from the following season he was frequently captaining the side.
By September 2022, Jashari was earning his first senior cap for Switzerland, who later picked him in their World Cup and Euro 2024 squads. He is yet to add to the two caps he earned in 2022, but his progress implies that might change soon.
Since joining Club Brugge, Jashari has taken his first steps in the Champions League, starting 11 of their 12 games until their elimination by Aston Villa in the round of 16.
Jashari tends to sit in front of the backline and spray defence-splitting passes around. Left-footed, he has been tipped by some to become a successor to Granit Xhaka for the Swiss national team.
Possessing good strength, Jashari can carry the ball confidently but his ability in picking out diagonal passes from the middle of the park is what makes him most dangerous.
He achieved double figures of goal contributions in his final season at Luzern and looks on course to do something similar during his first at Club Brugge.
With decent aggression off the ball too, he has the potential to transition into a box-to-box role, but for now seems well suited in his deep-lying playmaker role.