From Aldi to the World Cup: How a Buffalo Incident Almost Ruined His Dream Transfer at 19

TIJJANI REIJNDERS has made his way to the world’s stage through a more unusual route.

Most top-flight footballers are established in clubs by the time they leave their teenage years behind them.

Tijjani Reijnders is at the World Cup with the Netherlands Credit: Getty He has risen to the top of football despite working at Aldi at the age of 19 Credit: Getty

, 27, had to follow a different path to the top of the game, having worked at ALDI while he was in the academy at Dutch side PEC Zwolle.

The supermarket was in his hometown of Zwolle, Holland, and he would take on shifts as a cashier after school.

The now and Netherlands midfielder would also carry jars of pickles from storage to stack on the shelves.

Reijnders was still living at home with his parents and it was his mum who made .

Speaking in the Player’s Tribune, he said: “She saw an application form at Aldi and filled it out.

“She even made me hand it to the store manager, and when we talked, I did my best not to get the job.

“They must have been really desperate though, because the next day he called me. ‘You start tomorrow’.

“Every day after school, I’d bike to the store in the centre of Zwolle, my hometown. For the next four hours, I was a cashier.

“I was carrying jarred pickles from the storage room to the shelves. I didn’t really want to do it, but I was living with my parents.”

Reijnders would have felt a million miles away from gracing the pitches on the professional stage, let alone the World Cup with Holland.

But he made progress after leaving PEC Zwolle for fellow Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar.

It was at the AFAS Stadion that he started to make a name for himself in European football.

He started to impress at AZ Alkmaar Credit: AFP Reijnders scored against West Ham in the Conference League Credit: Reuters

In the 2022-23 season, he helped the team reach the semi-finals of the Conference League and scored in the first leg against .

Following what was a stellar campaign, Reijnders was rewarded with a big-money move to Italian giants AC Milan.

But the £17.5million transfer almost fell through because of two BUFFALOES during a safari holiday with his wife Marina.

The Dutchman was trying to juggle his relationship and his career, knowing that there was interest from the Rossoneri.

Reijnders’ move to AC Milan was almost scuppered by buffaloes Credit: Reuters He was on a safari holiday with his wife Marina Credit: INSTAGRAM @tijjanireijnders

It was Marina’s birthday when they had planned a special dinner out on the savannah.

But earlier in the day, he had been alerted that Milan were keen to talk to him that evening about making the move to the San Siro.

Reijnders was supposed to speak to both manager Stefano Pioli and director Geoffrey Moncada, but his dinner almost got in the way.

He said: “We had planned a safari, and the guides had promised to prepare a nice dinner for us.

The midfielder had a call scheduled with AC Milan during the holiday Credit: INSTAGRAM @tijjanireijnders He was due to speak to then-manager Stefano Piolo Credit: The Times

“I tried to make time for both my wife and Milan, but soon we were in a tent on the savannah, waiting forever for the food to be ready, and the clock was ticking.

“I was afraid I’d miss my call.

“Finally, they said, ‘Okay, you guys can come’. We were eating by the campfire, and I asked why it had taken so long.

“One of the guides said, ‘Ah yes, there were two buffaloes by your table’.”

Reijnders has since joined Manchester City Credit: Alamy

Reijnders continued to climb the football ladder in his two seasons in Milan and has since become a regular in the Dutch national team.

Since 2023, he has earned 32 caps for the Oranje and scored seven times.

After two seasons in Italy, he was then bought by Man City in a transfer worth £47m.

He ended his first season in England with and Cup winners’ medals.

Reijnders will be hoping to add to his collection come the end of the World Cup with Holland.