In the wider drift of talent toward the Gulf, Tijjani Reijnders has offered an unusually direct account of why he left Manchester City for Al-Qadsiah. The Netherlands midfielder, now 28, says the Saudi club’s proposal changed his view of a move he had not expected to make at this stage of his career, chiefly because it could secure his family’s financial future well beyond his playing days.
Reijnders completed the transfer in August, with Al-Qadsiah paying around €61 million for a player who had arrived at City from Milan only a year earlier. He had been contracted in Manchester until June 2030, but the scale of the Saudi offer brought a rapid end to that spell. In 47 appearances for City, he scored seven goals.
Speaking on Dutch television programme Vandaag Inside, Reijnders made no attempt to present the decision as purely footballing. “I do not want to have to work after my career,” he said. “After City, I would probably already have been fine, but this means I can also look after the future of the generations that follow in my family.”
The midfielder said he understood why supporters might interpret the move as one driven by salary, and accepted that money had been central to his choice. In his view, few players would make such a switch if it meant earning less than they could in Europe.
A Saudi chapter, not necessarily a final destination
Reijnders nevertheless insists that Al-Qadsiah does not mark the end of his sporting ambitions. Discussions before the transfer included the prospect of a future return to European football, leaving open the possibility that his time in Saudi Arabia could become a lucrative but temporary chapter rather than a permanent departure from the continent’s leading competitions.
His international position has not been affected by the move. Reijnders remains in the Netherlands squad selected by Xavi Hernández for the country’s upcoming Nations League fixtures, keeping him in the Oranje picture while his club career takes him from Manchester to Saudi Arabia.
