Frenkie de Jong
Frenkie de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɛŋki də ˈjɔŋ]; born 12 May 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays primarily as a central midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team
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De Jong playing for Barcelona in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Frenkie de Jong | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 May 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gorinchem, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999—2002 | VV Vianen | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2009 | RKC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2015 | Willem II | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003—2005 | ASZ Arkel | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Willem II | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Jong Ajax | 46 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | → Willem II (loan) | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2019 | Ajax | 57 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Barcelona | 150 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Netherlands U15 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Netherlands U18 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Netherlands U19 | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Netherlands U20 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Netherlands U21 | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Netherlands | 54 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:54, 4 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:22, 10 September 2023 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
De Jong began his professional career at Willem II in 2015. He transferred to Ajax for a fee worth €1 a year later. The fee was symbolic and offset by a sell-on clause. At Ajax he established himself as one of the best young midfielders in Europe, after winning a domestic double and reaching the Champions League semi-finals. De Jong won the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup, was Eredivisie player of the season, and was an instrumental part of Ajax's first UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance in 22 years, in a breakthrough 2018–19 season.
During his breakthrough season, De Jong agreed to sign for Barcelona in January 2019, leading him to be signed for the club in July, for a fee worth €75 million. De Jong was selected to the 2019 FIFA FIFPro World11 and was one of three Dutch players to feature in it for the first time in five years.
De Jong made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in September 2018. He became a starter in the inaugural UEFA Nations League, in which Netherlands finished runners-up. He also represented the side at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.