GdS: ‘The true devils’ – why Pulisic and Reijnders are now worth €135m+ | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders both arrived in the 2023 summer transfer window, and they have taken less than two years to become AC Milan’s new leaders.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write this morning, Pulisic was an American who arrived as a gamble. Chelsea paid over €60m in order to sign him from Borussia Dortmund, but then he left for less than one third of that price.

Reijnders meanwhile was a Dutchman known to the AZ Alkmaar fans but not even all Dutch supporters knew him, given that he didn’t make his first appearance for the national team until one month after joining Milan.

The new guard

Pulisic and Reijnders are the new Rossoneri guard. Both have been at the club for almost two years and are destined to stay even longer. The Milan that belonged to Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao no longer exists.

The driving forces are Christian and Tijji: not only because of their goals and assists (numbers that deserve a separate chapter) but because of their leadership, and also the consistency of their performance levels.

Pulisic was a silent talent, who showed himself especially in the simplest matches. In his first season with the Rossoneri, he scored just one goal in the Champions League and a whopping 12 in the league against Genoa, Frosinone, Sassuolo, Monza, Empoli, Verona, Lecce, Cagliari were all hit.

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Basically, hurting the bottom half of the table was his speciality. This season, he scored four goals in the UCL and nine goals in the league. He scored against Inter and Fiorentina, and took the team by the hand when it was in danger of losing itself definitively.

A brace in the comeback against Lecce and an equaliser two days ago against Como paved the way for Reijnders’ winning goal. With the addition of six assists, he has become the midfielder who has been involved in the most goals in this league season: 15.

The evolution of the Reijnders is even more evident. In his first season, he amassed no goals in the Champions League and three in Serie A. This year he has multiplied everything by three: three in the Champions League (two vs. Club Brugge, one away against Real Madrid) and nine in the league.

The 26-year-old scored against Monza, Verona, Roma, Parma, Inter, plus two days ago against Como.  These are the goals that have added points to Milan’s standings. If the European climb is still within reach, he has much of the credit.

Value and future

The value of both has also tripled: Pulisic is once again a player worth €60-65m, the same value as four years ago, and he is about to renew his contract until the summer of 2029 at a salary of €5m net per year. This will put him level with Leao on fixed salary, and deservedly so.

With Reijnders the numbers grow even more: Tijjani is not only a goal scorer and a great talent, but an all-round midfielder. Milan paid €20.5m to AZ, today he is estimated around €75m, but he is not for sale and just extended until 2030 with a pay rise to €3.5m net per year.

In a negative year, Milan can point to the growth of the pair as a success both in a sporting and an economic sense. They can grow even more too because they are versatile, capable of playing in any formation and – in the future – with any coach.