Arsenal transfer news: Mikel Arteta’s side could raid a rival for £46.5m player with Premier League clubs ‘on alert’

Arsenal are reportedly among a number of Premier League clubs keeping tabs on the situation of Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.

The 27-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium from AC Milan for an initial £46.5m after a stellar 2024-25 campaign at San Siro, scoring 15 goals across all competitions and winning the Serie A Midfielder of the Year award.

Reijnders did not take long to announce himself to the Premier League, as he scored and assisted on his debut for Man City in a 4-0 win at Wolves on the opening weekend of the season.

The Netherland international was a regular in Pep Guardiola’s team up until the end of 2025 when he began to lose his starting spot and his minutes began to dwindle in the Premier League and Champions League.

Reijnders was handed his first Premier League start since January in Man City’s 3-0 win over Brentford last weekend, while he has played the full 90 minutes in a top flight game just once since September.

Talks planned to discuss Reijdners’s future at Man City

Although Reijnders is under contract at the Etihad until June 2030, there has been speculation that the midfielder could head for the exit door after just one season at Man City.

A recent report claims that Reijnders is going through one of the toughest phases of his career and his sale could be considered by the Citizens this summer.

According to CaughtOffside, Reijnders and Man City representatives are expected to meet at the end of the season to clarify his situation.

As things stand, the player is not pushing to leave, and City may be reluctant to let him go so soon after his arrival - aware that Bernardo Silva is already leaving this summer - but end-of-season talks should provide a clearer picture of his long-term future with the Sky Blues.

Uncertainty over Reijnders’s future is said to have put a number of clubs on alert, including Premier League leaders Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and his former team AC Milan.

Do Arsenal, Newcastle or Aston Villa need to sign Reijnders?

Some will argue that Arsenal may not need to sign a midfielder of Reijnders’s profile, given the options already at Mikel Arteta’s disposal.

Captain Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze are the two chief creative options who can operate in the middle, while Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Norgaard and Mikel Merino are other central midfield players in the senior squad.

Newcastle, however, may need to reinforce their midfield this summer amid uncertainty over the long-term future of in-demand star Sandro Tonali, who has been linked with some Premier League clubs.

Aston Villa may also consider bolstering their central options given that Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Amadou Onana have all suffered with injuries this season, leaving Unai Emery’s side light in the middle of the pitch on occasions.