Revealed: How Sheffield United missed out on transfer deal for 22-cap star now making £46m Man City move
Tijjani Reijnders is nearing a move to England after a £46m deal was struck between Manchester City and AC Milan - but if the Dutch midfield star’s career had taken a slightly different path, he could have played in the Premier League a lot earlier with Sheffield United. The Milan man will sign a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium.
The €55m deal also includes additional clause payments and is still subject to a medical, but City hope to sign the 26-year-old in time for the start of the Club World Cup on June 14. Reijnders joined Milan in the summer of 2023 from AZ Alkmaar, where his performances first caught the eye of the Blades’ recruitment team.
For the first time it can now be revealed how close the Blades were to landing the Netherlands international, in a cut-price deal that could have earned United a huge sum of transfer cash if the player’s career had followed the same trajectory.
The Star has been told that a representative of United’s recruitment team travelled to Holland to meet Reijnders, his wife and his agent after an AZ game in the 2022/23 season when Paul Heckingbottom was in charge at Bramall Lane. Reijnders was keen to make the move to England, and United needed reinforcements after Reda Khadra’s loan spell from Brighton and Hove Albion was cut short.
But the Blades were then placed under a transfer embargo over non-payment of funds for previous deals, including Rhian Brewster’s move from Liverpool, and were unable to complete the deal. At the time Reijnders was still to make his international debut and was approaching the end of his contract at AZ.
Eighteen months later he moved to Milan and proved a big hit with the Rossoneri, also helping his country reach the semi-finals of the 2024 European Championship and putting him on the radar of City.
How Sheffield United came close to landing £46m star now heading to Manchester City
A man light after the return of Khadra and unable to strengthen due to the embargo, United went on to win promotion to the Premier League but were then hamstrung on the eve of their top-flight return when Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, two key man who had both entered the final years of their respective contracts, were sold.
Former Italy international Stefano Fiore picked out Reijnders recently as the player he was most reminded of himself in the Italian top-flight. “He's very technical, can do many things,” said the former Lazio, Valencia and Fiorentina man, “and today he’s the most complete midfielder in Serie A."
Every club up and down the country has their own “what-if?” story when it comes to transfers that didn’t come off, with United’s main one the failed attempt to bring Diego Maradona to Bramall Lane before he exploded to superstardom.
Reijnders may not be quite in the Argentine’s category but those involved in the potential deal to sign him for United may be looking at his career trajectory since, and big-money move to the Premier League, with a sense of what might have been.
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