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Tijjani Reijnders enjoyed an excellent start to his Manchester City career but he hasn't been as effective in recent weeks.
Tijjani Reijnders scored one and created another as the Netherlands booked their World Cup spot with a 4-0 win against Lithuania on Monday, and he will hope his international form could earn him a recall at club level.
The £46million summer signing from AC Milan enjoyed an excellent start to his Etihad career, but he has failed to build on that promise and despite finding his range for the Netherlands, he hasn't added to the one goal he has for the Blues this term.
Reijnders' solitary effort for City came on the opening day of the Premier League season, although he has since added five assists to his tally across the league and Champions League.
The 27-year-old scored 15 times for AC Milan last season and has been unlucky not to get more for City. He is averaging 2.5 shots per 90 in the Premier League and 4.1 shots per 90 in the Champions League.
But having started the first 10 games in those competitions, he has since started just two of the last five, and he has been on the bench for back-to-back Premier League encounters against Bournemouth and Liverpool.
That demotion could partly be blamed on the return to form and fitness of Rayan Cherki. The £34million signing from Lyon picked up an injury early in the season, but he has hit top gear in recent weeks.
Reijnders and Cherki have only started together once this season, in the disappointing defeat to Tottenham back in August, when Cherki was withdrawn after 54 minutes. The likelihood of them starting together seems slim, with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden also pushing for midfield spots at the moment.
For Reijnders, the stats don't make for great reading. City have won all five matches he hasn't started this season, which do include Carabao Cup wins against Huddersfield and Swansea, while winning just seven of the 12 games he has begun.
That is nothing more than a quirk of fate at this stage and nothing Reijnders has done has been costly, even if he will feel he should have contributed more goals.
He is certainly a different player to Cherki. The 21-year-old Frenchman is a playmaker and described himself this week as an "old-school footballer". He can be brilliant to watch and superbly creative, but can also have games where he is ineffective.
Reijnders is probably more involved in games. His goal threat comes from timing runs into the area well, and he is a box-to-box player. Maybe in the bedlam of St James' Park on Saturday evening, he will be the safer selection than Cherki.
He will certainly return to his club full of confidence, although his belief didn't seem to have taken a blow with his recent demotion to the bench. Speaking while on international duty, he sounded like he was still loving life at City and was understanding of the fact that rotation would happen this season.
"It’s great, the Premier League. I’m still enjoying every day at Manchester City," he said. "If you look at our squad, anyone could be in the starting line-up."
That is certainly true this season, but to be out of the starting XI for the third successive Premier League game would be a concern. Reijnders will be desperate to start and make an impact in the North East this weekend.
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