Arsenal join the Reijnders queue as Manchester City open the door at £45 million
Tijjani Reijnders has gone from Manchester City's £46.3 million signing of last summer to a midfielder his manager keeps forgetting to bring on. Seven unused-substitute appearances in the last ten games. Seventeen Premier League starts across the season. No place on a few of the bigger Champions League nights. City have not asked him to leave, but they have stopped fighting the idea that he might.
The price they have settled on, according to multiple reports this week, is around £45 million. That is a £1.3 million write-down on what they paid AC Milan twelve months ago, closer to a clean exit than a market designed to recoup. It signals City want a quick conversation in June rather than a summer-long auction.
Why Arsenal are at the front
Arsenal's interest is the most prominent of the three current bids. Mikel Arteta's midfield rebuild has been signposted since Thomas Partey left for Villarreal on a free last August, and the side has leaned heavily on Declan Rice across competitions. Reijnders is a ball-carrying eight who plays a long pass and can finish from outside the box. He has five Premier League goals this season despite the reduced minutes, and his Champions League pedigree, built more at Milan than at City, is the part Arteta really wants.
The wrinkle for Arsenal is timing. They have already prioritised an attacking signing and held internal talks about Gabriel Jesus's expected exit. Adding a £45 million midfielder on top of an attacking spend stretches the summer budget, and Arsenal's recent windows have not always closed multiple high-end deals together. Arteta is the one pushing.
Juventus and Villa close in
Juventus have Reijnders listed as a priority target and have been in regular contact with his camp. The pull is sentimental for the player as much as sporting. He spent two seasons at AC Milan, 2023-24 and 2024-25, before he signed for City last June, and Italian football still gets first read on his attention.
Aston Villa's £45 million interest is the surprise of the week. Unai Emery has turned Villa Park into a Champions League regular, and a Dutch midfielder with Reijnders's ball-progression numbers fits how Emery wants the team to play out of pressure. The financial side is the harder bit. Villa's PSR position leaves less room for a clean £45 million outlay than Arsenal's does.
What Reijnders wants
The player has not pushed for an exit, and City have not pushed him towards one. Both sides are due to sit down once the season ends. Reijnders has been clear with his representatives that regular Champions League minutes are non-negotiable in 2026-27, and on that bar, City cannot promise what they delivered in the second half of 2025-26.
What he picks could shape Arsenal's window as much as it shapes his own. If he agrees to wait for the Emirates, Arteta has the centrepiece of his midfield rebuild. If he picks Turin, Arsenal go back to a list that no longer has its first name on it.
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