Manchester United legend Michael Carrick has delivered his honest verdict on Manchester City star Tijjani Reijnders after his amazing Premier League debut on Saturday.
Manchester City soared to the top of the fledgling Premier League table thanks to a 4-0 win over Wolves in which Tijjani Reijnders delivered a masterclass.
Reijnders played a big part in City’s opening goal before getting on the scoresheet himself and adding an assist for good measure.
Carrick, one of the finest midfielders of his generation, was impressed by what the new City man did on his Premier League debut.
Tijjani Reijnders in action during Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Michael Carrick says Tijjani Reijnders looks like he can do ‘a bit of everything’
Carrick was part of the post-match analysis team on The Weekend Wrap on Stan Sport, and he loved what he saw from Reijnders.
The former England international said he has always noted a “smoothness” about Reijnders’ style of play.
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Carrick also said the “biggest thing” about Reijnders’ display was how comfortable he looked, despite only moving recently to City.
“Yeah he looked like he could do a bit of everything,” said Carrick. “I think he scored last week in the friendly for him.
“I watched him before he went to Milan and there’s a smoothness about him. He can play deep, he can connect the play, he can play forward.
“As debuts go it’s as good as you can get.
“The biggest thing was he looked so comfortable, there was no stretch to it, he looked so at home and the standard of his play was so high.
“It shows signs of a really intelligent top player.”
Carrick is not the only Man United legend to admit Reijnders looks like a star.
Rio Ferdinand also sung Reijnders’ praises after the game, while Gary Neville also liked what he saw from Reijnders.
READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand names Manchester City star as the current player he’d have loved to play alongside the most
The two biggest lessons Tijjani Reijnders has already learned at Manchester City
Reijnders recently spoke about how much he has been learning from Pep Guardiola about on-the-ball positioning and off-the-ball pressing.
When asked on Stadium Astro about the biggest lesson he had learned from Guardiola so far, Reijnders replied: “The position you have to take when you have the ball.
“But also how we want to press the opponent, like giving them no time to think when they have the ball.
“I see now from up close how it works and everything. It’s nice to have that feeling when you are in a match, like everything is in the right place.”
When asked whether it helps that Guardiola himself was a midfielder, Reijnders said: “Yeah, of course.
“He has his experience as well and he will always help us in his way. So yeah, that can help for sure.”