Tijjani Reijnders

Tijjani Martinus Jan Reijnders Lekatompessy (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.

After representing various Dutch junior teams, Reijnders began his career with his hometown club, PEC Zwolle, before moving to fellow Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the 2017−18 season. He was then loaned to RKC Waalwijk until the conclusion of the 2019−20 campaign. After returning to AZ from his loan, Reijnders was named to the Eredivisie Team of the Month in September 2022 and April 2023, before signing for Italian giants AC Milan in the summer of 2023.

Reijnders is a Dutch international, having progressed from the under-20 level onwards. He made his senior international debut for the country in September 2023.

Early life
Born in Zwolle, Reijnders is the son of Martin Reijnders, and the brother of Eliano Reijnders who are also professional footballers. Reijnders is of Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia descent through his mother, Angelina Lekatompessy.

Despite not having any Nigerian ancestry, he is named after Nigerian footballer Tijani Babangida.

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.

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.

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

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

International career
As a result of his family background, Reijnders was eligible to represent Indonesia or the Netherlands. On February 2022, it was reported that the head coach of the Indonesia national football team at that time, Shin Tae-yong, had tried to call him up, but he declined the opportunity.

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

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

Reijnders scored his first senior international goal in a 4–0 win over Scotland at the Johan Cruyff Arena on 22 March 2024.

On 29 May 2024, Reijnders was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024.

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. He also played as part of the double pivot in a 4–2–3–1 formation, again primarily on the left despite being right-footed.

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.

International
Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first.

Honours
Individual
 * Eredivisie Team of the Month: September 2022, April 2023