Reijnders' impressive City debut the shape of things to come, says Ake | OneFootball

Nathan Ake says a hugely impressive first Manchester City display from Tijjani Reijnders offered a tantalising glimpse of what the midfielder will be able to bring to the squad.

In what was Reijnders’ maiden competitive start for City since joining the Club from AC Milan earlier this month, he produced an assured and impressive display in Wednesday’s opening 2-0 FIFA Club World Cup win Group G win against Wydad AC.

The 26-year-old proved a rock-solid midfield shield against the Moroccan side whilst also demonstrating his threat and creativity going forward on numerous occasions.

And reflecting on his maiden City outing, Ake said he felt it offered a tantalising flavour of what is to come looking ahead to the rest of the Club World Cup and beyond.

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“I think he could be very important,” Ake said of his fellow Dutch international.

“I know him really well. I think from the first week in training you could straight away see that he fits in really well.

“You see the quality he has.

WATCH: Nathan Ake post Wydad AC reaction

“I think he did very well in midfield against Wydad in tough circumstances, but I think he kept the ball really well.

“He kept us moving and defensively as well he was very good too.

“He can play multiple positions, he can get in the box, he can get you moving and we know he’s got a lot of quality.

“With Rayan Cherki too you can see the quality has, so I'm sure there's loads more to come from the guys.”

Ake meanwhile played the full 90 minutes in what were testing humid and hot conditions at the Lincoln Financial Field.

It saw the classy defender further step up his match fitness and sharpness following action with the Dutch international team earlier this month.

WATCH: FIFA Club World Cup Highlights: City 2-0 Wydad AC

It followed on the back of what was an injury bedevilled 2024/25 season that saw the 30-year-old waylaid by setbacks on two separate occasions.

Reflecting on the Wydad win, he said he was happy to be fully fit and back doing what he does best.

“Yeah, I’m good. I had the first 60 minutes with the national team [earlier this month] and that helped a bit,” Ake added.

“On Wednesday against Wydad was the first 90 minutes in a little while.

“So obviously there is more to come, but physically I’m feeling fine and everything is good.

“It was very tough, you know, mentally and physically [to sit out so many games], you know, trying to always push, and come back as quick as possible.

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“[So when you] go and get injured again, you know mentally it’s not easy.

“But yeah, luckily that's gone now and hopefully I can stay fit and keep moving forward.”