Tijjani Reijnders: From Aldi to Man City Midfielder

Imagine scanning groceries at an Aldi checkout at 19, earning minimum wage while holding onto a football dream that felt years away. Tijjani Reijnders didn’t just walk away from that register — he sprinted, eventually landing at Manchester City in 2025 with a five-year contract (Manchester City official site). This profile separates the confirmed facts from the gaps in his personal story, and traces the unlikely route from supermarket floor to the Premier League.

Full Name: Tijjani Reijnders ·
Date of Birth: 29 July 1998 ·
Height: 1.78 m ·
Position: Midfielder ·
Current Club: Manchester City ·
National Team: Netherlands

The core biographical data points, confirmed across multiple sources, tell the outline of a footballer whose personal life remains largely off the record.

The pattern: Reijnders’ biography is well-documented in career milestones but opaque in personal details — typical for a player who spent his teenage years on the shop floor rather than in academy spotlights.

What is Tijjani Reijnders’ ethnicity and religion?

What is his ethnicity?

• His father is Dutch and his mother is Indonesian, according to Manchester City’s official site (the club’s media channel).
• He could have represented Indonesia internationally through his mother’s heritage, but chose the Netherlands (same source).
• Transfermarkt, the football statistics database, likewise lists him as being of Indonesian descent through his mother (Transfermarkt).

The implication: Reijnders holds a mixed Dutch-Indonesian background, a detail that surfaced only after his move to Manchester City prompted official background features.

What is his religion?

• No reliable source has published any information about Reijnders’ religious affiliation or beliefs.
• His personal life is guarded, and no interviews or profiles mention a faith tradition.

The catch: Religion remains a complete blank — one of the many personal topics the midfielder has chosen to keep off the record.

Who are Tijjani Reijnders’ parents?

Who is his mother?

• Her name has not been publicly disclosed, but her nationality is Indonesian, as reported by Manchester City’s official site.
• She is the reason Reijnders was eligible to play for Indonesia.

Who is his father?

• Transfermarkt lists his father as Martin Reijnders (Transfermarkt, the football database). No other biographical details about Martin are available in public records.
• Reijnders was actually named after former Nigeria and Ajax forward Tijani Babangida — a choice his father made (Manchester City official).

Why this matters: The lack of detailed family profiles is unusual for a Premier League signing — most clubs produce extensive family background pieces. That Manchester City didn’t suggests Reijnders values privacy highly.

Is Tijjani Reijnders married?

Does he have a wife?

• There is no public confirmation of a wife or spouse in any source — not in club profiles, interviews, or social media.
• He maintains a private personal life, and no relationship details appear in the available biographical record.

The trade-off: Fans searching for a family story will find none. Reijnders has deliberately kept that side of his life away from the cameras.

Which country does Tijjani Reijnders play for?

What is his nationality?

• He plays for the Netherlands national team (ESPN, the sports broadcaster).
• He was born in Zwolle, Netherlands, and holds Dutch citizenship (ESPN; Wikipedia).
• His senior international debut came in September 2023 (Wikipedia).

The pattern: Despite Indonesian eligibility through his mother, Reijnders committed early to the Dutch setup — a career path that gave him access to one of the world’s most competitive national teams.

Did Tijjani Reijnders play for AC Milan?

What is his club history?

• Yes — AC Milan announced Reijnders as a new signing in July 2023 (AC Milan’s official site).
• He spent two seasons at the San Siro, winning the 2024–25 Supercoppa Italiana (Wikipedia).
• Before that, he played for PEC Zwolle (senior debut 2017/18), AZ (2017–18 season), and had a loan spell at RKC Waalwijk (2019–20) (Premier League, the top-flight league; Wikipedia).
• He signed for Manchester City in June 2025 on a five-year deal (Manchester City official).

The implication: The “AC Milan question” appears to have arisen because some early profiles omitted his time in Italy. He did play for Milan — and won silverware there — before the Premier League move.

“You Really Need to Get a Job, Tijjani”

– His mother, as recalled by Reijnders on The Players’ Tribune

The quote captures the tension of his early years: a talented footballer who hadn’t yet made it, being nudged toward ordinary work. That supermarket shift became the defining origin story of his career.

For fans and analysts tracking his progress, the lesson is straightforward: Reijnders’ rise is not a tale of early stardom but of perseverance through anonymity. For the Dutch national team and Manchester City, the bet is that a midfielder forged in the checkout line and refined at Milan can thrive under Guardiola — or force the club to adapt its expectations. The choice is now Pep’s to make.

For a deeper look at another footballer’s journey, read our profile of Alisson Becker: Age, Height, Wife, Contract, Goals, Injury and James Tarkowski: English, Not Polish – Salary & Personal Life.