Tijjani Reijnders Scouting Report At AC Milan 2024/2025: Milan’s Key Playmaker Under Paulo Fonseca Tactics – Player Analysis

Tijjani Reijnders has been one of the most remarkable and impactful midfielders at Milan — and in Serie A overall — this season.

He has added a lot of value to the Rossoneri’s performances since his arrival.

Following his excellent performances, most notably at the start of this campaign against Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, and others, Reijnders has attracted the interest of many top European teams, including Manchester City, Tottenham, and others.

This interest stems mainly from his latest exceptional performance in the UEFA Champions League encounter against Real Madrid, during which the Dutch international excelled in numerous aspects, particularly in terms of goalscoring, key passing, and dribbling.

What is even more impactful regarding Reijnders’ performances is his intelligent off-the-ball movement and ability to position himself in key spots.

These allow him to receive passes in dangerous areas and, therefore, increase his chances of goalscoring.

This capacity to sense goals and position himself in key spots, and be able to do so, adds significantly to Milan’s goalscoring average and has been helping the team a great deal in terms of points as well.

In addition to goalscoring, the Dutch player is also becoming one of the most crucial passers in Serie A.

He usually succeeds in breaking lines with extremely accurate key passes that often create goalscoring opportunities for his attacking teammates.

It is worth noting that Reijnders began his football career at PEC Zwolle in 2017, following a youth period spent at the same club.

In 2021, he moved to AZ Alkmaar but initially started playing for the reserve team. He then got the opportunity to play for the first team.

At AZ, Reijnders developed his abilities and started performing at his best.

He scored numerous beautiful and impactful goals per season and contributed to his team’s positive results with outstanding performances overall.

His remarkable performances in the Eredivisie attracted the attention of several European clubs, and Milan was the club that showed the most interest in him.

His start with the Rossoneri was not really exceptional.

It was completely normal to get some time for adaptation, finding his best form, and getting familiar with a new, complicated league with different playing styles and mentalities.

That said, Reijnders did not take much time to start performing well for Milan.

He was intelligent enough to start performing well under Stefano Piolis coaching style quickly.

At the start of this season, Reijnders found even more freedom under Paulo Fonsecas tactics.

The Portuguese manager gave him more attacking responsibilities, and the player himself began taking more initiative regarding shooting from a distance, particularly in terms of penetrations and ball carries from midfield.

In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will examine Reijnders’ roles and positions within Fonseca’s Milan and assess his goal-scoring skills.

The analysis will also cover the Dutch midfielder’s passing qualities and playmaking talent, as he is now Milan’s most dangerous passing threat.

Tijjani Reijnders Position & Roles At AC Milan

It is obvious that Reijnders is one of the most central players in AC Milan’s tactics at the moment.

In Paulo Fonseca’s formation of a 4-2-3-1 set-up, Reijnders forms a midfield duo alongside Youssouf Fofana, as both players complement each other well.

Fofana is more useful defensively, as he is very powerful in winning defensive duels and intercepting passes.

Reijnders gets a bit more freedom to advance more frequently and create numerical superiority inside the opponent’s half.

Suppose we combine these frequent attacking penetrations with the player’s excellent positioning with and without the ball.

In that case, we can understand why Reijnders’ impact in Milan is becoming increasingly valuable within the team.

As the following pizza map shows, Reijnders’ most remarkable role is key passing, as he provides 88.33% of dangerous passes per game, with an average of 65% accuracy in terms of passing.

Reijnders has already proved his abilities in this regard, as he provided many key passes between the lines, whether to players moving from the wings to the box or to players coming from the back and penetrating towards the box.

Moreover, his excellent dribbling skills, which have been particularly evident against Real Madrid lately, make Reijnders an even more unique midfielder.

He can pass defenders and win duels, relying on his flair, dribbles, and, more importantly, his remarkable pace.

Another role that Reijnders has mastered and has been progressively excellent at is shooting from a distance.

The pizza map also highlights this trait of Reijnders, as he has been scoring outstanding goals thanks to his shooting skills, with a goal contribution rate of 75% per game.

Therefore, if he maintains the same run of form, Reijnders has the potential to provide many assists and score many goals, especially if he gets more opportunities to shoot during the rest of the season.

Tijjani Reijnders Radar Map

Tijjani Reijnders Passing & Playmaking Abilities

As mentioned above, Reijnders is one of the best passers in Serie A.

He is expected to become even more crucial during the upcoming seasons as he gains more experience and maturity.

So far,