Tijjani Reijnders did not want to go to Saudi Arabia at all: father reveals reason for transfer | Goal.com
Martin Reijnders has given Algemeen Dagblad a detailed explanation of his son Tijjani Reijnders' decision to go and play for Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia. According to him, despite interest from several clubs, there were hardly any options left.
Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest were also in the running for Reijnders, but Manchester City insisted their asking price of around €60 million had to be met. In reality, Al Qadsiah were the only club who could do that.
"We understand that it raises questions. But Tijjani couldn't just go anywhere at all," father Martin says. "Manchester City asked for a transfer fee that nobody in Europe could or wanted to pay. As a result, he is playing here."
That means money was not the only reason for Reijnders' move to the Middle East. "Money only became a factor when there were two sporting choices left: stay at Manchester City, not be happy there because of your new role as a number 10, with the chance of ending up on the bench more often. Or play every match at Al Qadsiah with enjoyment in a position that suits you well," father Martin says.
"The first two times, we immediately told Al Qadsiah 'no'. Tijjani did not have it in his head to go to the Middle East," he continues. "We were still hoping for Atlético, but they pulled out definitively and Al Qadsiah came back. They gave a presentation via a video call. After that, we also went there to have a look. They want to become the biggest, best club in Asia."
"Of course the level is lower than in the Premier League," father and son realise. "But it is no longer the Mickey Mouse league either. It (100 million in 5 years, ed.) is a gigantic amount of money, truly unbelievable. Of course that plays a role, we do not need to be sanctimonious about that."
Reijnders does not expect that he will, as would have been the case under Ronald Koeman, fall out of the picture with the Netherlands, but he had no contact with the KNVB. "No, we only know what the picture was at the last World Cup: after the Premier League, the Saudi league supplied the most World Cup players. In countries such as France, Mexico, Morocco and Senegal, they also had a starting place."
Whether that is still the case under Xavi remains to be seen. On Monday evening, Reijnders did make his mark by scoring his first goal for his new club in the league match against Neom SC.
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