Nigel de Jong

Nigel de Jong (; born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He joined the Ajax youth academy when he was young and made the first team at age 17.

De Jong moved from Ajax in 2006 to join Hamburg. He then moved to Manchester City in January 2009 for around £18 million. He became an important part of Manchester City's midfield. He has earned a reputation of being combative and feisty player. This got him nicknames like "The Terrier" and "Lawnmower". He moved to Italian club Milan in August 2012.

Club career
Ajax
On 19 October 2002, de Jong played for the Ajax first team for the first time. He scored his first goal on 18 February 2003 in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. He started playing in the first team often in the next season. In this season, Ajax won the Eredivisie. In 2004–05, de Jong was named Ajax Player of the Season. Later, after starting in midfield for quite a while, he found himself sitting on the bench more often than being one of the players at the start of a match. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that de Jong did not want to stay with Ajax. His contract with Ajax was due to finish in July 2006.

Hamburg
On 26 January 2006, de Jong signed a four and a half year contract at German Bundesliga club Hamburg. He moved there for about €1 million. He played for Hamburg for the first time two days later. In the match, Hamburg lost 2–1 to Nuremberg. In March 2006, de Jong scored the winning goal in Bayern Munich's first ever loss at the Allianz Arena. The week after, he got his first red card in a UEFA Cup match against Rapid Bucharest. He had to stop playing in April because he needed surgery on a knee problem. The injury also meant that he could not play for the Netherlands at the 2006 World Cup. However, after becoming fit again, he was put on standby.

Manchester City
On 21 January 2009, de Jong moved to Manchester City for around £18 million. He signed a four-and-a-half year contract. He played for the first time against Newcastle United on 28 January 2009. He appeared sixteen times in the Premier League.

De Jong was in the starting team against Arsenal on 12 September 2009. He was given Man of the Match by Sky Sports after Manchester City won 2-1 over Chelsea on 5 December 2009. By the end of the season, the fans liked him. He was one of Roberto Mancini's first picks as defensive midfielder as the team just missed out on the Champions League. De Jong scored his first goal for Manchester City when they won 2-1 against West Ham United on 1 May 2011.

Milan
On 31 August 2012, de Jong joined Italian Serie A club Milan. He signed a three-year contract.

International career
On 31 March 2004, de Jong played his first game with the Netherlands in a friendly against France. He was not picked to play in UEFA Euro 2004. He missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup because his knee was injured.

He scored his first goal for the Netherlands against Iceland on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. This match made the Netherlands go through to the 2010 World Cup.

De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was one of the starting players for their first match in the competition. In this match, they won 2–0 against Denmark. He was not allowed to play in the semi final against Uruguay because he got his second yellow card in a match against Brazil. He played in the Final, where the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain.

+ Nigel de Jong: international goals #  Date  Place  Opponent  Score  Result  Competition 1.  6 June 2009  Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland    1 – 0  2 – 1  2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics
Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAjax2002–03Eredivisie17000001012712003–04Eredivisie3220000503722004–05Eredivisie3150000813962005–06Eredivisie162000073235Total 96  9  0  0  0  0  30  5  126  14Hamburg2005–06Bundesliga1210000301512006–07Bundesliga1810000512322007–08Bundesliga2910000613522008–09Bundesliga70200020110Total 66  3  2  0  0  0  16  2  84  5Manchester City2008–09Premier League1600000001602009–10Premier League3403050004202010–11Premier League3214000504112011–12Premier League21010419036Includes one appearance in the FA Community Shield12012–13Premier League1000000020Total 104  1  8  0  9  1  15  0  137  2A.C. Milan2012–13Serie A1210000401612013–14Serie A33210001004422014–15Serie A2931100003042015–16Serie A5010000060Total  79  6  3  1  0  0  14  0  96  7LA Galaxy2016Major League Soccer140001020160Galatasaray2016–17Süper Lig1816000002412017–18Süper Lig0000000000Total  18  1  6  0  0  0  0  0  24  1Mainz 052017–18Bundesliga110100000120Al Ahli2018–19Qatar Stars League214000000214Al Shahaniya2019–20Qatar Stars League23Includes one appearance in the Relegation/Promotion playoffs0004100271Career total 384  20  21  1  10  0  73  7  496  29

International

 NetherlandsYearAppsGoals2004502005502006402007502008110200991201011020116020121102013202014110201510Total811

Scores list Netherlands' tally first.

+ Nigel de Jong: international goals No.  Date  Venue  Opponent  Score  Result  Competition 1  6 June 2009  Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland        2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours
Ajax
Eredivisie: 2003–04
Johan Cruyff Shield: 2005

Manchester City
Premier League: 2011–12
FA Cup: 2010–11
FA Community Shield: 2012

Netherlands
FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2010; third place: 2014

Individual
Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2004–05

References

Other websites

 www.transfermarkt.co.uk

Category:1984 births
Category:Living people
Category:A.C. Milan players
Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players
Category:Footballers from Amsterdam