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  and  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. 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 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.

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.

## Career statistics
### Club
### International
''Scores list Netherlands' tally first.''

## 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