Football transfers are never just about the sticker price you see on the back of a jersey or the "here we go" tweets. When Tijjani Reijnders moved from AZ Alkmaar to AC Milan in 2023, and eventually onto a massive deal at Manchester City in 2025, everyone wanted to know the numbers. But the numbers people usually ignore are the ones going into the pockets of the middlemen.
Tijjani Reijnders agent fees became a hot topic not just because of the cash, but because of who was actually sitting at the table. It wasn't some corporate shark in a three-piece suit. It was his dad.
The Father-Agent Dynamic and the Milan Move
Most modern stars have huge agencies like Gestifute or CAA Base. Tijjani has Martin Reijnders. Martin is a former pro himself—played for PEC Zwolle—and he handles his son's business with a "family first" mentality that is becoming rarer by the day. Honestly, it changed the entire negotiation leverage when he first arrived at Milan.
When Milan paid roughly €20 million (plus bonuses) to snag him from the Eredivisie, the commission structure was surprisingly lean. In a world where agents often demand 10% to 15% of the total transfer value, Martin Reijnders famously prioritized the "sporting project" over a massive payday. He even went on record with Algemeen Dagblad saying he didn't even know how most agents organize their massive cuts because it wasn't his concern.
He basically told Barcelona to take a hike during that same window. Why? Because they wanted Tijjani to replace Sergio Busquets, and Martin knew his son wasn't a "sit-and-hold" pivot. That kind of honesty saves a career but often loses an agent a commission.
The Manchester City Windfall and Commission Reality
Fast forward to June 2025. The landscape shifted. After a breakout season at San Siro where he bagged 15 goals, the big fish came calling. Manchester City secured Reijnders for a fixed fee of €57.7 million, a deal that could eventually balloon to over €70 million with all those crazy add-ons (like Ballon d'Or clauses and Premier League titles).
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This is where the agent fees get interesting. Usually, when a player moves for €60m+, the agents are looking at a multi-million euro "facilitation fee."
- Standard FIFA Caps: New regulations have tried to cap commissions at 3% to 10%, but the workarounds are legendary.
- The AZ Sell-on: AZ Alkmaar actually kept a 10% sell-on clause, meaning they pocketed roughly €5.5m from the City move.
- The Representative Cut: While the exact check Martin Reijnders cashed isn't public (clubs hide these in "other costs" in their balance sheets), industry standards for a deal of this magnitude suggest a commission between €2 million and €4.5 million.
The interesting part? Milan’s 2024/25 financial statements actually showed a massive profit on disposal for Reijnders—around €42 million. Because his dad handled the move to Italy so cleanly with minimal upfront "intermediary costs," Milan's book value for Tijjani was low, allowing them to record a huge gain when City paid up.
Why You Should Care About These "Hidden" Costs
You've probably noticed that some transfers take weeks to "finalize" even after the clubs agree on a price. That's almost always the agent fees. Clubs like Milan, under RedBird's management, are notoriously stingy with these. They prefer dealing with family-agents like the Reijnders because there's less "noise."
If an agent demands €10 million on a €20 million transfer, the club is effectively paying €30 million. It skews the FFP (Financial Fair Play) math. By keeping the Tijjani Reijnders agent fees manageable, his family ensured that he remained an attractive asset for clubs like Manchester City who, despite their wealth, are under a microscope for every penny spent.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think agents are just parasites. Sometimes they are. But in Tijjani's case, having his father as the lead negotiator meant the "agent fee" wasn't a barrier to his career progression.
Many young Dutch players get stuck because their agents demand too much from the buying club. Tijjani's path from Zwolle to Alkmaar, then to Milan, and now the Premier League was a masterclass in stepping stones. The fees were secondary to the minutes on the pitch.
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Key Takeaways for Fans and Analysts:
- Look for "Other Expenses" in Financial Reports: That's where the agent money is buried. AC Milan reported record revenues of €457m in 2024, partly because they didn't overspend on commissions during their recruitment drive.
- Family-Agents Change the Math: They are more likely to accept staggered payments or lower percentages if it means a better contract for the player.
- The "Hidden" Cost of Free Transfers: Ironically, "free" agents usually have the highest agent fees because there's no transfer fee to pay the selling club. Since Reijnders always moved for a fee, his agent's leverage was tied to the deal's success, not just the signing.
Keep an eye on his next contract renewal. With his contract at City running until 2030, any extension will likely see another round of "representative fees" that reflect his status as one of Europe's elite ball-carriers.
To truly understand a player's value, you have to look at the "net" cost. When you strip away the hype, Tijjani Reijnders represents a rare win for a club’s accounting department—a high-impact player whose background team didn't bleed the buying club dry. It’s a model more teams are trying to replicate in the 2026 market.