Manchester City have confirmed the signing of AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for an initial fee of £46.5m on a five-year contract.
The Netherlands international is Pep Guardiola’s fourth summer signing with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki having also joined.
Reijnders, 26, was signed in time to be eligible for this month’s Club World Cup in America and could make his debut on 18 June against Wydad FC.
“I am ecstatic to be signing for Manchester City,” Reijnders said. “City are one of the biggest teams in the world, with the best coach, world-class players and outstanding facilities.
“Under Pep Guardiola, City have won so many titles and I want to help keep that going with a lot more success in the coming years.”
The midfielder has been capped 22 times by the Netherlands but was left on the bench during Tuesday night’s 8-0 thrashing of Malta.
He scored 15 goals in 54 matches across all competitions for Milan last term and was named Serie A’s midfielder of the season.
With Kevin de Bruyne departing the club, Reijnders will strengthen the centre of the pitch for Guardiola as they look to improve on their third-placed Premier League finish last season.
City boost squad for Club World Cup
A question being asked in the lead up to the Club World Cup was how seriously teams would be taking the expanded competition.
Manchester City have emphatically answered that question by moving quickly to bolster a wounded squad that will now hope to go far in the competition in the United States.
With De Bruyne departing and a hole left in attacking midfield, City were eyeing up Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz but decided not to pursue a deal.
Instead, they have boosted the side with the signings of midfielder Reijnders and Cherki and left-back Ait-Nouri for a total of around £108m, which is less than the reported 150m Euros (£127m) asking price for the Germany international.
All three, plus new goalkeeper Bettinelli, are available for selection for the Club World Cup with City facing Moroccan side Wydad AC in Philadelphia first on 18 June.