nationalcaps birth_date currentclub pcupdate years youthyears caps goals image_size nationalyears image name caption fullname ntupdate birth_place nationalteam height clubnumber nationalgoals youthclubs clubs position article_title
10 80 30 november 1984 milan 6 may 2015 1993 2012 -- -- 2002 2006 -- 2009 2009 -- 2012 1993 -- 2002 96 66 104 70 9 3 1 6 250px 2002 -- 2005 2004 -- nigel de jong 2011 -lrb- 2 -rrb- . jpg nigel de jong de jong with the netherlands national team in 2011 nigel de jong 04:40 , 17 november 2014 -lrb- utc -rrb- amsterdam , netherlands netherlands u21 netherlands 1.74 34 0 1 ajax ajax hamburger sv manchester city milan defensive midfielder nigel de jong

nigel de jong

nigel de jong -lrb- ; born 30 november 1984 -rrb- is a dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for italian club milan and the netherlands national team .
he joined the ajax youth academy as a youngster and worked his way through the ranks to make the first team at age 17 .
two years later , in 2004 , he made his international debut .
additionally , in 2010 he won a world cup runners-up medal .
de jong moved on from ajax in 2006 to join hamburg in search of first team football and then moved to manchester city in january 2009 for an estimated # 18 million , where he became an important part of city 's holding midfield .
a tireless grafter , he has garnered a reputation of being a combative and feisty player in his performances , a reputation that has earned him nicknames such as '' `` the destroyer '' '' and '' `` lawnmower '' '' .
he moved to italian side milan in august 2012 .
