In what was Reijnders’ maiden competitive start for City since joining the Club from AC Milan earlier this month, he produced an assured and impressive display in Wednesday’s opening 2-0 FIFA Club World Cup win Group G win against Wydad AC.
The 26-year-old proved a rock-solid midfield shield against the Moroccan side whilst also demonstrating his threat and creativity going forward on numerous occasions.
And reflecting on his maiden City outing, Ake said he felt it offered a tantalising flavour of what is to come looking ahead to the rest of the Club World Cup and beyond.
WATCH THE FIFA CLUB WORLD 2025 ON DAZN
“I think he could be very important,” Ake said of his fellow Dutch international.
“I know him really well. I think from the first week in training you could straight away see that he fits in really well.
“You see the quality he has.
“I think he did very well in midfield against Wydad in tough circumstances, but I think he kept the ball really well.
“He kept us moving and defensively as well he was very good too.
“He can play multiple positions, he can get in the box, he can get you moving and we know he’s got a lot of quality.
“With Rayan Cherki too you can see the quality has, so I’m sure there’s loads more to come from the guys.”
Ake meanwhile played the full 90 minutes in what were testing humid and hot conditions at the Lincoln Financial Field.
It saw the classy defender further step up his match fitness and sharpness following action with the Dutch international team earlier this month.
It followed on the back of what was an injury bedevilled 2024/25 season that saw the 30-year-old waylaid by setbacks on two separate occasions.
Reflecting on the Wydad win, he said he was happy to be fully fit and back doing what he does best.
“Yeah, I’m good. I had the first 60 minutes with the national team [earlier this month] and that helped a bit,” Ake added.
“On Wednesday against Wydad was the first 90 minutes in a little while.
“So obviously there is more to come, but physically I’m feeling fine and everything is good.
“It was very tough, you know, mentally and physically [to sit out so many games], you know, trying to always push, and come back as quick as possible.
“[So when you] go and get injured again, you know mentally it’s not easy.
“But yeah, luckily that’s gone now and hopefully I can stay fit and keep moving forward.”
How to follow the FIFA Club World Cup 2025
DAZN will broadcast every minute and every moment from the event, with all 63 matches, live-streamed, free to view on DAZN globally*, and in multiple languages.
If you are already a DAZN subscriber or Freemium member, then the competition is part of your current membership.
To sign up for a free DAZN account now you only need an email address to register, with no hidden costs or fees.
You can then watch all the action on the DAZN App via smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, streaming devices, game consoles and web browsers.
Join now to start watching for free on DAZN.
Every City match will be covered in full across mancity.com and our official app, with our usual offering of a Matchday Centre and Matchday Live followed by a match report, written and video reaction and highlights from the US.
*DAZN is not currently available in the following territories: Belarus, Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria