Siem de Jong

Early life

De Jong was born in Aigle, Switzerland, to Dutch parents who played professional volleyball in Switzerland and moved back to the Netherlands when De Jong was six.

Early career

De Jong began his football career at the Doetinchem amateur club DZC'68 and was scouted by De Graafschap, when he was 12. He grew up in Doetinchem and graduated from the same school (het Rietveld Lyceum) as Guus Hiddink, Paul Bosvelt and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, which grants him immediate university access (he has considered studying economics). He played with De Graafschap until 2005, when he was picked up by the Ajax youth academy.

Ajax

De Jong made his first team debut coming on as a substitute on 26 September 2007 against Kozakken Boys. His Eredivisie debut was also as a substitute, away at Sparta Rotterdam, where he scored an injury-time equaliser. In 2007–08, he was one of the youngest players and the only player under age 20 to play more than 20 games. On 16 January, just before turning 19, he extended his contract with Ajax to June 2013. He picked up an injury against Willem II, missing two months. This made him miss all the games from 16 March onward, including matches against PSV, Twente and Heerenveen. He recovered from this injury in early April, returning fit for the match against De Graafschap. Although he did not start that game, he was substituted on in the 81st minute for Edgar Davids.

During the beginning of the 2009–10, De Jong was often used as an impact substitute and only started in UEFA Europa League games. He eventually earned his place in the starting XI. In January, he scored the winner in the last few minutes of extra time to send Ajax through to the semifinals of the KNVB Cup. On 21 February, he scored a brace against Vitesse in a 4–0 win to keep Ajax's push for UEFA Champions League qualification alive.

On 15 May 2011, De Jong played in the title-decider game against Twente and helped Ajax win its first—and 30th overall—Eredivisie title since 2004 by scoring two goals, sealing the 3–1 victory.

In the 2011–12 season, De Jong often found himself playing as a striker due to several injuries to the natural strikers on the Ajax roster. On 11 April 2012, he scored a hat-trick as Ajax defeated ten-man Heerenveen 5−0 in the 29th league game of the season and moved three points clear of second-placed AZ in the Eredivisie table. De Jong scored both goals against VVV Venlo on 2 May 2012, helping Ajax retain the Eredivisie title.

In the summer of 2012, following the departure of teammate and captain Jan Vertonghen to Tottenham Hotspur, De Jong was appointed as the new Ajax captain. He was in fine form in the 2012–13 Champions League, scoring once at home to English Champions Manchester City and scored twice away from home in the same fixture on 6 November 2012. On 17 March 2013, De Jong netted a brace in a 2−3 defeat of AZ at the AFAS Stadion in Alkmaar.

On 27 July 2013, De Jong scored a goal in the 107th minute as Ajax defeated AZ by a score of 3−2 in the 2013 Johan Cruyff Shield. He scored a goal in either half as Ajax defeated NEC 3−0 on 10 November in the 13th round of Eredivisie play.

Newcastle United

On 1 July 2014, De Jong signed a six-year deal with Newcastle United for a fee believed to be around £6 million. Following his signing for the club, De Jong was named as a vice-captain by manager Alan Pardew. He made his competitive debut as a 70th-minute substitute in a Premier League match against Aston Villa on 23 August 2014. He injured his right thigh during training in early September, ruling him out for "a number of months".

De Jong was due to make his return to the Newcastle first team in February 2015, but he was sidelined for a further eight weeks due to a collapsed lung, a condition he had previously experienced while at Ajax. Upon his return to the team, De Jong scored his first Newcastle goal in a 3–2 loss against Swansea City on 25 April 2015. De Jong started for the club in a 4–1 victory in the League Cup at Northampton Town, scoring Newcastle's second goal, his second for the club.

In January 2016, De Jong was sidelined for two weeks in a freak accident in which one of his contact lenses was pushed into his eye, threatening his sight.

PSV (loan)

On 22 August 2016, Newcastle confirmed that De Jong had moved to PSV on a season-long loan.

He scored his first goal for PSV against Go Ahead Eagles four minutes after coming off the substitutes' bench in the 64th minute. The goal helped PSV close to within three points of Feyenoord and Ajax, which were joint top of the Eredivisie table

Asked about his longer-term future, De Jong said that it would be ideal if Newcastle "are promoted first and then I return to play in the Premier League", which eventually proved successful on the 25th April 2017 after beating Preston 4-1.

Return to Ajax

On 28 August 2017 it was announced that De Jong would return to Ajax signing a 3-year contract with the Amsterdam club.

Netherlands Under 19

De Jong made his international debut at the under-19 level in May 2007 against Czech Republic (0–2 win) and has six caps. He played three games there, but the Netherlands did not qualify for the UEFA U-19 Championship. In the next qualifying campaign, he was more successful, playing three games and scoring in two of them. He scored in the qualifying campaign for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship once in his debut game in 83rd minute against Georgia (2–0 win). He started the second game but did not score. In the final game, against Norway, he scored in the 15th minute of an eventual 3–1 loss.

Netherlands Under-21

On 12 November 2007, De Jong was called up to the Netherlands under-21 squad by Foppe de Haan for the game against Macedonia. Because of his injury in March, he missed the qualifying game against Estonia (3–0 win) and was replaced by Jonathan de Guzmán. After recovering from his injury in April, De Haan recalled him but De Jong failed to make the final squad for the 2008 Olympics. De Jong played three more games for the under-21 team, but they failed to qualify for the 2009 European Championships.

De Jong was recalled for the 2011 UEFA U21 Championship qualifiers and scored the opening goal against Liechtenstein in a 3–0 win.

Netherlands (senior team)

On 11 August 2010, De Jong made his debut for the senior side in its 1–1 draw with Ukraine in a friendly match, playing the first 62 minutes. On 7 May 2012, he was named in the provisional list of 36 players for UEFA Euro 2012 by Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk. He scored his first goals for the Netherlands under newly appointed manager Louis van Gaal in a friendly encounter against Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. Coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Wesley Sneijder, De Jong scored the first two goals for the Netherlands, in the 57th and 67th minutes, with both goals having been assisted by Ruben Schaken leading to a 3–0 win for the Dutch.

Personal life

Siem de Jong's younger brother Luuk plays for PSV and formerly for Newcastle in 2014. Siem linked up again with his brother at PSV in 2016.

Club

International

Statistics accurate as of last match played on 19 November 2013.

International goals

Club

Ajax

Individual