Nottingham Forest Eye Tijjani Reijnders Amid Manchester City Standoff
Nottingham Forest are testing Manchester City’s resolve over Tijjani Reijnders, sensing an opportunity in the final stretch of the window and armed with fresh money to spend.
The Midlands club are weighing up a £55 million bid for the Netherlands international, who arrived at the Etihad only last summer after an eye-catching spell with AC Milan. It was supposed to be the next step in a sharp upward curve. It hasn’t quite worked out that way.
A year that never truly took off
Reijnders, 28, walked into a City midfield packed with pedigree and found himself on the margins more often than the spotlight. Nineteen Premier League starts under Pep Guardiola in his debut season tell the story: involved, but never indispensable.
For a player in his peak years, that matters. His long-term role in Manchester now hangs in the balance, and, crucially, he knows it. Reports suggest Reijnders is open to leaving City, driven by the need for regular starts rather than cameo appearances in a squad stacked with options.
That stance has changed the dynamic of this window. Clubs no longer have to guess whether he would push for a move. He is ready to listen.
Forest’s new financial muscle
Forest, meanwhile, are not the cash-strapped strugglers of old in this particular negotiation. The sale of Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for a fee reported to reach up to £116m has transformed their summer. It is a landmark deal that gives them rare financial clout and the freedom to chase high-end targets.
Reijnders fits that bracket. Forest see a midfielder with Champions League experience, a player who has operated at AC Milan and under Guardiola, and someone who could immediately raise the technical ceiling of their side.
But the numbers are heavy. Forest are exploring a £55m move; City are said to be holding out for closer to £60m. That gap, a relatively small one in the modern market, still represents a major decision point for a club that has to balance ambition with sustainability.
A price that keeps closing doors
City’s valuation has already shaped the market around Reijnders. Atletico Madrid previously showed interest but stepped away when they saw the £60m price tag. For a 28-year-old who has yet to fully crack the Premier League, that figure is a serious commitment.
Forest’s recruitment team must now decide whether this is the moment to go all in. Reijnders is not a long-term project in the age-profile sense. At 28, he arrives to deliver immediately, not to be gently developed over four or five seasons. Any resale value in his early 30s would likely be modest compared to the outlay.
So the question inside the City Ground is simple and stark: does he move the needle enough to justify a fee of that size?
Risk, reward and a restless midfielder
From Forest’s perspective, there is clear upside. Reijnders would walk into a more prominent role, given the space created by Anderson’s departure and the need for a new midfield fulcrum. Regular minutes, responsibility, and a system built more around his strengths could help unlock the version of the Dutchman that earned his move from Milan in the first place.
For the player, the attraction is obvious. The City Ground offers him what he cannot guarantee at the Etihad: a starting shirt, week after week, and a chance to rebuild his reputation in the same league where he has so far only flickered.
His openness to a move hands Forest leverage that Atletico never truly had. They are not trying to prise away a settled player; they are offering an exit route to one who is ready for a different stage.
The negotiation that will define Forest’s window
Everything now rests on that narrow but stubborn gap between £55m and £60m. Somewhere in that corridor lies the deal. City know they hold a valuable asset under contract. Forest know they are one of the few clubs with both the need and the money to make this happen.
The next move is theirs. Do they push closer to City’s valuation and make Reijnders the statement signing of their summer, or walk away and look for a younger, cheaper alternative?
For a club newly flush with cash and eager to prove it belongs among the Premier League’s more serious operators, that decision will say as much about Forest’s ambition as any press conference ever could.
