Cruyffian football at Man City'

BBC News

01-08-2025

Tijjani Reijnders says he was persuaded to join Manchester City because Pep Guardiola's style of play reminds him of that made famous by Netherlands icon Johan Cryuff."When we played at the academy in Holland, you quickly learned how important possession is in games, about passing and movement and how important the tactics are," he told City, externalclub media, external. "Most Dutch players have that ingrained within them because they learn it at such an early age."As for Johan Cruyff, he's one of the greatest players our country has ever produced and what he left behind, you can still see on the football pitch - and you can also see it here at Manchester City."Reijnders spent his career in Dutch football until two years ago when AC Milan signed him and, now 27, is excited about a fulfilling childhood hope of playing in the Premier League."I always dreamed of this and I think it was always on a Sunday morning that I saw the [Premier League] highlights on TV," he said."I'd obviously have a lot of interest in the Dutch players who were over here – Robin van Persie and Dennis Bergkamp in particular. They were the sort of players you were looking at because they were huge stars in our country and as a kid, you want to emulate them."Now, being here with City and to be soon playing in the Premier League, it genuinely is a dream come true."