Siem de Jong

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.

Although he did not start that game, he was substituted on in the 81st minute for Edgar Davids.

Siem Stefan de Jong (born 28 January 1989) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or striker.

He played with De Graafschap until 2005, when he was picked up by the Ajax youth academy.

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.

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.

He scored a goal in either half as Ajax defeated NEC 3−0 on 10 November in the 13th round of Eredivisie play.

Playing in the youth academies of De Graafschap and Ajax, he made his professional debut for the Amsterdam-based side and would go on to become the club's captain as they won a club-record four consecutive Eredivisie titles from 2011 to 2014.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

Following a three-year spell with Premier League side Newcastle United and a loan spell with PSV Eindhoven, De Jong returned to Ajax in 2017.

His younger brother Luuk de Jong is also a professional football player, currently playing for PSV.

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.

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).