Tijjani Reijnders feels at home in Milan: ‘’Life is really good here, especially the food’’
Dutch international Tijjani Reijnders is in his second season at AC Milan. This year, he’s established himself as one of the best players in his position. He has been attracting interest from clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Manchester City. Reijnders, however, revealed in an interview with AC Milan that he feels at home in the city and opened up about his relationship with money, what he’s learned from Indonesian and Dutch culture, and how being a father has impacted his career positively.

Reijnders joined AC Milan in the summer of 2023 from AZ Alkmaar. Despite also receiving an offer from FC Barcelona, Reijnders thought a move to AC Milan would be best for his career. Now, more than a year after joining, Milan has become his home. ‘’When I’m in Holland and I say to Marina [his wife]: ‘let’s go home’, we go to Milan. Life is good here,’’ says the 26-year-old. ‘’A lot of friends and family can come here quickly because the flight is like 1 hour and 30 minutes. Life is really good here, especially the food.’’
In Milan, Reijnders is also able to spend time outside without much disturbance from the people. ‘’If you go to the city centre, of course, there are always some fans asking for a picture. But it’s not really crazy crazy.’’
Indonesian and Dutch influences
Growing up with an Indonesian mother and a Dutch father, Reijnders took some valuable lessons from both cultures. From his Dutch side, he’s learned to be down-to-earth and his Indonesian side has always taught him to be proud of what he has achieved and accomplished. ‘’I’m always proud because of my family, but also in my career. I’m always thinking that it is good what I’ve achieved but I want more and I don’t want to act differently after I achieve something.’’
In 2024, Reijnders also became a father for the first time and it’s made a big difference to his life and football career. Before, if he had a bad game, he would continue to dwell on it at home. ‘’Now when I get home it’s strange because you forget a lot of things because I see him and he’s the most important thing now in the world. If he’s going to play football, I will be his personal coach of course, but for me, the most important thing is that he has fun in the things he wants to do.’’
Family business
Reijnders also recalled the first time he received a salary at AZ Alkmaar. ‘’When I signed my first contract for AZ, my parents told me I could spend my entire first salary if I wanted.’’
Reijnders father Martin was also a professional football player and knows a lot about the football world. Martin has also been Tijjani’s agent. ‘’Of course, money makes life easier, but in the end, the most important thing is to be healthy and to help people and that’s what we want to do. That’s why I also wanted my father to be my agent in this football world because I trust my dad the most with business and money. That’s why we want to keep that in the family.’’
‘’Not only that, but we want everyone in our family to also achieve something because of what Tijjani has achieved,’’ adds his wife Marina. ‘’So it stays in the family and it’s something that we like, that everyone is wealthy.’’
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