Tijjani Reijnders responds to Nathan Ake’s message ahead of Man City transfer
Nathan Ake featured for the Netherlands alongside a player who could be set to join him at Manchester City.
Man City have a busy summer both on and off the pitch, as Pep Guardiola spearheads a sizeable overhaul of his squad at the Etihad Stadium while also having the FIFA Club World Cup to contend with.
Guardiola will hope he can call on Ake for the Club World Cup after he missed more than half of City’s matches last season with several injury issues, and was limited to 18 appearances in all competitions.
City have taken an aggressive approach to the split transfer window in preparation for this summer’s tournament though, and have already agreed a deal to spend £59million of Guardiola’s sizeable budget.
Ake sends ‘great’ message away from Man City
The Netherlands’ national team is largely associated with Liverpool at present after four Reds players started in their 2-0 win over Finland on Saturday, but Ake also made his Oranje return in the same match.
Ake started at left-back and played the first 62 minutes of a 2-0 win for Ronald Koeman’s side, and did so with AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders in midfield as he prepares to make a move to Man City this summer.
Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki could all be on their way to the Etihad before the Club World Cup kicks off for City on 18 June, and Reijnders responded to Ake’s Instagram post on Sunday (8 June).
After his return to the national setup, Ake said: “Great to be back out there and start the WC Qualifiers with a win and a clean sheet!”, as Reijnders commented with a ‘strong arm’ emoji and a love heart.
Reijnders transfer the first of many for Man City
Reijnders’ £59m switch will start a £115m spree on City’s three main targets, after their former financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider that Ait-Nouri and Cherki could soon be through the doors.
City’s agreement with Milan likely leaves them out of the running to sign Morgan Gibbs-White, with Reijnders seen as a more fiscal alternative to both the Nottingham Forest midfielder and Florian Wirtz.
Arsenal and Liverpool may win the respective races for Gibbs-White and Wirtz instead, but Guardiola has clearly wasted no time in identifying gettable targets to make use of his £200m budget this summer.