- Pep Guardiola was spotted in enthusiastic conversation with Tijjani Reijnders at Wembley
- Dutch international was handed a rate start in Man City’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win
- Man City’s midfielder has struggled for minutes in 2026, joined last summer from AC Milan
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had an animated conversation with Tijjani Reijnders in his side’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton at Wembley on Saturday.
Reijnders was one of eight changes Guardiola made to his starting XI from Manchester City’s midweek Premier League win over Burnley as the Blues came from behind to beat Southampton and record their sixth successive win in all competitions.
Despite making a fast start to life at the Etihad Stadium since joining from AC Milan last summer, Reijnders has struggled for minutes at Manchester City in 2026 and has seen game time limited to cup competitions in recent months.
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City are pursuing a domestic treble and after avoiding a late scare against Southampton on Saturday, the Blues have reached their fourth successive FA Cup final as they also go head-to-head with Arsenal for the Premier League title.
I told Reijnders I wanted to kill him, says Pep
Cameras pointed to Guardiola having an animated conversation with Reijnders, who was taken off for Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva after 86 minutes, when Nico Gonzalez struck from distance moments after to complete the turnaround for the Blues.
Reijnders was neat and tidy in possession but often passed on the choice to test Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz in what was a rather frustrating evening personally for the Netherlands international.
Guardiola said: “I said I wanted to kill him because of how good he played, that is what I said! But Tijjani is another guy who hasn’t played in the last games and played really good, two or three chances, (Mateo) Kovacic the same. He made a really good (game) but at 1-1, I wanted a player more positional.”
While Guardiola refrained from outrightly criticising Reijnders, it can be easily read between the lines that the Manchester City manager wanted his midfield signing from last summer to be more risk-taking in the final third against a stubborn Saints backline.
Why hasn’t Reijnders played much for Man City in 2026?
Despite being a regular feature in the Manchester City starting XI in the first half of the campaign, Reijnders has seen minutes hard to come by since January.
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As has been the case with Phil Foden – the form shown by Antoine Semenyo since joining from Bournemouth in January, Manchester City’s reliance on Rayan Cherki to create as well as Nico O’Reilly’s emergence as an indispensable part of Guardiola’s lineup – have all contributed into increasing competition in midfield.
Reijnders has been hit and miss when handed a chance to start since January and as Manchester City pursue a domestic treble, the margin for error is as thin as it gets – leading to Guardiola leaning on the players whom he knows he can trust the most.
However, this is unlikely to be cause for much concern behind the scenes at the Etihad Stadium as Reijnders enjoyed a strong start to the campaign and has all the materials to build on a stop-start debut year at City to grow his influence on the Blues in the years to come.
