Dutch Midfielder Leaves Man City After Just One Year, Admits Middle East Move Was for the Money — 5ch: ‘The “I Don’t Want to Work Again” Part Is Hilarious’

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The story

Just one year after joining Manchester City, Dutch international midfielder Tijjani Reijnders has decided to move to the Middle East. Speaking candidly to local outlet NOS, he reportedly said, “Money is important,” “Once my career is over, I never want to work again,” and “It can help provide for future generations of my family.” On 5ch, the comments sparked a wide-ranging discussion, comparing his reasoning to Shohei Ohtani’s transfer motives, debating the financial power of Middle Eastern clubs versus Europe’s FFP regulations, and discussing what a good post-retirement second career looks like.

Also a World Cup participant

Dutch international midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, who has decided to leave Manchester City, has offered further explanation, according to NOS.

[Roundup] Even That Superstar! A List of Notable Players Who Moved to the Saudi Arabian League

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

7AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:06
Ohtani only joined the Dodgers for the money too, you know. If he didn't care about money, he'd have signed with the Yankees instead.
11AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:09
Re: #7
Well yeah, that's why he does all those commercials — he wants the money.
42AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:48
Re: #7
Once Ohtani retires he'll probably just do nothing and balloon up.
48AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:51
Re: #7
Why the Yankees though?
13AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:11
What's he gonna do after he retires?
Is just doing nothing even realistic?

Even Hidetoshi Nakata keeps himself busy with all kinds of work, you know.
14AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:12
Re: #13
He'll probably make a fortune, invest it, and live off the dividends.
16AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:20
Re: #13
A lot of players buy real estate to set themselves up for life after retirement.
35AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:41
Re: #13
Not really your problem to worry about.
27AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:34
Fine as long as he actually gets paid, I guess.
39AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:46
Re: #27
Middle Eastern clubs are pretty loose about it — payments might be late, but they don't just not pay you.
29AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:35
You see this, Doan?
Are you satisfied?
45AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:49
Re: #29
He's already earning plenty as it is lol.
And if he goes back to Gamba before retiring, they'll back him up with his coaching license courses too.
30AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:35
This is what really matters for athletes in the end.
The true top tier keeps getting offered work after retirement,
but for middling players there's a good chance none of that comes their way.
40AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:46
Re: #30
If you've got a decent enough track record, there's work out there if you just grind it out after retiring — coaching, commentary, writing, national team or club staff roles, whether or not it pays well. Soccer's popular worldwide, and having dual Dutch-Indonesian citizenship is an advantage too.
32AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:36
Re: #11
It's to give dreams to kids who play baseball.
Ohtani doesn't care about money.
38AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:45
Re: #32
So dreams equal money, not baseball itself, huh.
Well, most people hyping up Ohtani probably don't even watch the games anyway.
41AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:46
Re: #32
He sure seems very interested in real estate investment though.
36AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:44
I don't want Japanese players imitating this.
Current national team players all say you have to grow in a high-level environment or you'll fall behind the rest of the world — if a bunch of guys start jumping to the Middle East that easily, it's going to hurt the national team's strength.
47AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:50
Re: #36
Soccer's ultimately just entertainment anyway, so there's nothing wrong with prioritizing money.
70AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:30
Re: #36
Without money, people turn to crime, don't they?
72AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:31
Re: #36
Not everyone plays for the sake of the national team, you know. The real home of soccer is the clubs anyway.
43AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:48
Hulk was pretty ruthless about it too — he prioritized cash-rich China and Russia at their peak over a European career.
Anderson Talisca's the same, sticking to high salaries in China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
David Luiz is playing in Cyprus these days.
61AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:57
Re: #43
Among Japanese players, Nakajima's an unusual case — he's bounced back and forth between the J.League, the Portuguese league, and Middle Eastern leagues.
44AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:48
Dutch guys have it easy — once they retire there's always the cushy job of criticizing Asian players.
49AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:51
Re: #44
That might feel good, but it doesn't pay much lol.
46AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:50
Basically Reijnders was a total bench player at City anyway.
Even if he'd stayed this season he'd have been nothing but a backup — if he were a regular starter at City, he couldn't get away with saying something this cool, could he? 🙄
56AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:55
Re: #46
What is this guy even talking about?
53AnonymousSep 23, 2026 16:54
'Don't want to work' is hilarious lmao
67AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:21
Re: #53
Is it that he's never had a regular job, or that he just doesn't want to work?
Either he earns enough to live off for the rest of his life and quietly retires,
or — since the second career after retirement ends up being longer anyway —
he should study something else that'll help him in that second career.
63AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:03
It's crazy that Middle Eastern clubs get away with throwing around absurd amounts of money to sign players, but for some reason only Europe is bound by this thing called FFP. Even within Europe, how strictly it's enforced varies a lot.
Manchester City is getting slammed hard over their financial misconduct case, but PSG and Middle Eastern clubs not too long ago were running massive deficits in violation of FFP on a scale way beyond anything City did. Why is the Premier League so diligently trying to enforce this garbage rule called FFP?
If you're going to restrict clubs with FFP, you need to do it worldwide, otherwise all the good players are just going to get scooped up by the Middle East.
65AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:05
Re: #63
Platini really pulled something stupid there — and this from a guy who took bribes himself.
68AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:22
This is the right call.
He earned that kind of valuation, so choosing for himself is the correct move.
There was also a chance that chasing higher ambitions could've ended with him getting injured this year anyway.
69AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:29
Re: #68
Can't really call it "right" either — plenty of kids turn out disappointing living off their parents' money.
71AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:31
Put up an article about the Man City vs Bayern WCL matchup between the Japanese players already. (WCL = Women's Champions League)
74AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:34
Re: #71
That was fun, wasn't it (´・ω・`).
None of the four full-international players had standout moments,
but it was a high-level, great game.
77AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:40
It's easy for outsiders to say he lacks ambition, but if you were actually offered this kind of insane money, turning it down would be tough. That said, unpaid wages are basically par for the course, and there's the risk of being right in the middle of a war zone too, so it's probably not an environment where you can really focus on soccer.
82AnonymousSep 23, 2026 17:51
Re: #77
I read an article on Goal.com about how Shakhtar's doing lately, and it sounds rough — for regular training and matches they're going to places like Lviv and Kyiv, even setting up outposts in London…
And yet, despite overcoming all these hardships, they've gone back to their Brazilian-player pipeline and are getting results again.
The treatment there is probably pretty good too.

Background and Talking Points

Criticism of transfers as being “just for the money” is a recurring debate in soccer in recent years. It’s ironic that Manchester City itself, the club Reijnders is leaving, is currently being pursued by the Premier League over alleged financial rule violations — that context is behind the thread’s comparisons between Europe’s FFP (Financial Fair Play) regulations and the financial muscle of Middle Eastern clubs. Oil-producing Middle Eastern nations like Saudi Arabia also run high-welfare policies such as free healthcare and education, which is part of why domestic criticism over the source of transfer funds doesn’t tend to build up as much there. Meanwhile, the thread also drifted into tangents not directly related to the main topic, such as comparisons to Shohei Ohtani’s reasons for his own transfer. Whether Reijnders was a regular starter or a backup at City is merely speculation from some posters and hasn’t been confirmed, so it isn’t reflected in this article’s summary.

※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Dutch MF Who Left Man City for the Middle East After 1 Year: “Money matters, and once my career’s over I never want to work again. I can help provide for future generations of my family.”

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