Frenkie de Jong

He was substituted in the 68th minute for Terell Ondaan in a (1–0) home win.

He came off the bench in the 82nd minute against Manchester United in the final.

It was Ajax's first European final in 21 years.

Aged 20, he made 26 appearances for the first team.

Primarily he featured as a center-back, in a back four, alongside national teammate Matthijs de Ligt due to the departure of Davinson Sanchez.

He also played in a three-man center-midfield.

He recorded eight assists in 22 league appearances and received two yellow cards.

Towards the end of the season he was injured—tendonitis, syndesmotic ligament tear, hairline crack in calf bone—and missed three months.

He made his senior debut against Sparta Rotterdam coming on, in the 88th minute, for Lasse Schöne.

Frenkie de Jong (born 12 May 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central-midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team.

Regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world, he is known for his vision, passing, dribbling, technique, along with strong defensive abilities and his attacking prowess.

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.

On 10 May 2015, De Jong made his Eredivisie debut against ADO Den Haag, two days before his eighteenth birthday.

At the beginning of the season, on 22 August 2015, Ajax purchased De Jong.

He signed a four-year contract, for a symbolic €1 fee which included a 10% sell-on bonus.

On 23 August 2015, he was loaned back to Willem II until 31 December 2015.

During this time he made one substitute appearance in an Eredivisie match against PEC Zwolle.

For the first two years at Ajax, De Jong was in and out of the first team squad.

After returning to the club in January 2016, de Jong made 15 appearances in the 2015—16 Eerste Divisie for Ajax II.

He primarily played in the centre of a three-man midfield and scored two goals.

The following year, he was awarded the 2016–17 Eerste Divisie's Talent of the season award for his performances with Ajax II for whom, he made 31 first team appearances and played as a central, and defensive, midfielder.

In total, he made four senior appearances for Ajax, and scored one goal against Go Ahead Eagles, in the 2016—17 season.

He started one game, came off the bench thrice, and was an unused substitute in 13 games.

He also made his European debut and made four substitute, and three bench, appearances, in the 2016–17 Europa League.

De Jong made two substitute appearances in the 2017–18 Champions League qualification, as Ajax lost on away goals against Nice (3–3) in the third qualifying round.

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.

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.

In the 2018–19 season, he primarily played in the middle of a three-man midfield.

De Jong was the Eredivisie player of the month in December (2018) and February (2019)—in which he completed 354 of 390 passes and made 53 ball recoveries.

Later that month he received praise from Rafael Van Der Vaart, who said De Jong was among the best players in Europe with the ball at his feet.

It is unclear whether during or prior to the beginning of the campaign he rejected an offer from Tottenham Hotspur, saying the "moment wasn't right," and wanted to play a full season in his preferred position at Ajax.

De Jong achieved success, and widespread recognition, during the 2018–19 season and led Ajax to their first domestic double (league and cup) since the 2001–02 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.

He also represented the side at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

A product of Willem II, de Jong played through the entire youth system at the club.