Quick Facts
Biography
Luuk de Jong (born 27 August 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Barcelona, on loan from Sevilla, and the Netherlands national team.
De Jong previously played for DZC '68, De Graafschap, Twente, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Newcastle United and PSV before joining Sevilla in 2019. His brother Siem de Jong is also a professional football player, currently playing for Heerenveen.
Early life
De Jong was born in Aigle, Switzerland, a son of two Dutch volleyball players who played professionally in that country.
He started his football career in Doetinchem at the amateur club DZC '68, together with his brother. They were both then recruited by the local professional club De Graafschap.
Club career
De Graafschap
De Jong made his Eredivisie debut in a match versus Breda, coming on as a substitute. After another match coming off the bench against Heerenveen, de Jong became a starter. In their first match together against Willem II de Jong gave an assist to Ben Sahar giving De Graafschap a 9–0 win. He scored his first Eredivisie goal in a home match against Twente. Moments later de Jong made a handball giving Twente a penalty which Blaise N'Kufo scored; the match ended 2–2. His second goal came in a home match versus Heracles Almelo. Resit Schuurman took a free kick and Rogier Meijer headed it on. De Jong was standing with his back to goal and scored with an overhead kick which gave De Graafschap a 1–0 victory. In a home game versus Nijmegen he injured his ankle and he was substituted in the first half. De Jong came back from injury in the play-offs for promotion/relegation.
Twente
On 6 April 2009, it was confirmed that de Jong signed a contract for three years with an option for another year with Twente. His contract would start on 1 July 2009. He played his first minutes for Twente in the cup match against Joure where he came on as a second-half substitute replacing Dario Vujičević. He provided two assists in the 8–0 victory over Joure. He scored his first two goals for Twente in the cup match against Capelle.
De Jong made his Europa League debut against Sheriff Tiraspol replacing Miroslav Stoch. He also played against Fenerbahçe when he came on as a substitute. He scored two goals in the cup match against Helmond Sport, Twente would go on and win the match 3–0. In the away game against Utrecht de Jong made his debut in the Eredivisie when he replaced Kenneth Perez in the 90th minute.
Because Blaise N'Kufo was injured, de Jong was handed the starting spot against Werder Bremen in the knockout stage (round of 32) of the Europa League. He scored his first goal in the Europa League for Twente in the away game against Werder Bremen. Twente were already 0–3 behind when de Jong headed past the goalkeeper Christian Vander to make it 1–3.
28 February 2010, De Jong scored his first league goal for Twente in the home game against Nijmegen. Twente won this game with 2–1. On 10 April, he scored his second league goal in the home game against Heerenveen in injury time, the matched finished 2–0.
He was very important in the 2010 Johan Cruyff Shield scoring the winning goal against Ajax in the eighth minute. He started the match as Marc Janko was injured. De Jong intercepted a pass from goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to Gregory van der Wiel and then stayed calm and scored the winner in the match which ended 1–0.
De Jong played in the Champions League play-off game against Benfica, a 2–2 home draw on 16 August. Four days later he scored his first Eredivisie goal of the campaign in a 5–1 demolition of Heerenveen. The following week, on de Jong's 21st birthday, he found the back of the net two more times as Twente smashed VVV Venlo 4–1.
De Jong scored two goals against Waalwijk on 21 January 2012, one was a tap in to an open goal and the other a penalty, as Twente ran out 5–0 winners. In Twente's following fixture against Groningen on 29 January, de Jong netted a hat-trick, each goal coming off an assist from Ola John, and provided an assist for Leroy Fer as his side won 4–1 and climbed to second in the 2011–12 season league table. On 10 February, de Jong found the back of the net two more times but Twente missed the chance to go top of the league table, as they lost 2–3 to Heracles. De Jong's two goals meant he had scored seven times in the past three Eredivisie fixtures.
On 4 March, de Jong scored a goal in Twente's 6–2 thrashing of fellow title contenders PSV at the Philips Stadion. Four days later in a Europa League match against Schalke 04, de Jong was the protagonist of a controversial penalty decision that resulted in a red card for Schalke defender Joël Matip, and a penalty kick which he himself successfully converted, to ensure the win for his side by 1–0. However Twente ended up falling out of the competition, losing 1–4 in the second leg in Germany, as de Jong's fellow Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted a hat-trick.
De Jong scored twice in two minutes on 14 April to put his side 2–1 up away to Breda, but an injury-time strike from Nourdin Boukhari denied Twente the chance to close the gap on title rivals Ajax. He finished the season with 25 goals on a joint-second place, seven behind top-scorer Bas Dost. At the end of the 2011–12 season, De Jong announced he wanted to leave the club. Having attracted the interest of several clubs around Europe, including Premier League side Newcastle United, de Jong accused the club's chairman [Joop Munsterman] of increasing the asking price for him. In response, the club's chairman and Steve McClaren expressed dismay over de Jong's comments.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
On 18 July 2012, de Jong signed for Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on a five-year deal, with a fee of €15 million (£12.6m), having stated it was his dream to join. Eight months later after the move, de Jong stated the Bundesliga was "a great place to develop as a player".
He made his debut with Mönchengladbach in a match against Munich 1860, His team ended up winning 4–2, however, de Jong was quite anonymous during his first match, failing to score or assist any goals. On 21 August, he started his first European game for Mönchengladbach and in the process scored an own goal from a free kick in a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv during the Champions League Qualifiers. on 15 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–3 defeat to 1. Nürnberg, converting a tap in after a cross from Patrick Herrmann. However, later in the season, De Jong's first team opportunities soon faded after falling out with manager Lucien Favre and only made twenty-three appearances; scoring six times. Towards the end of the season, De Jong reiterated he was confident he could prove himself as the best striker.
However, in the 2013–14 season, De Jong's first team place remained limited, as his playing minutes significantly decreased and made fourteen appearances in the first half of the season.
Newcastle United (loan)
On 29 January 2014, de Jong completed a loan signing with Premier League side Newcastle United until the end of the 2013–14 season. He made his debut on 1 February in the Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland. In May 2014, it was announced that de Jong would be returning to Borussia Mönchengladbach after he failed to score in any of his twelve appearances for Newcastle.
PSV
On 12 July 2014, de Jong signed a five-year deal with PSV for a fee of €5.5m. Following his move to PSV, De Jong said he felt he had made a mistake by moving to Germany.
De Jong made his official debut for the club, where he scored in both legs, as PSV beat St. Pölten 4–2 on aggregate in the third round of Europa League. It took until 31 August 2014 for De Jong to score his first league goal for the club, in a 2–0 win over Vitesse Arnhem.
On 17 December 2014, de Jong scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–3 home win over Feyenoord, and his second on 13 February 2015 in a 4–2 away win over AZ Alkmaar. He also scored twice on 18 April, as the team defeated Heerenveen 4–1 for their 22nd Eredivisie title and first since 2008.
On 2 August 2015, de Jong scored a double to help PSV clinch the 2015 Johan Cruyff Shield.
Sevilla
On 1 July 2019, de Jong signed a four-year contract with Spanish club Sevilla. On 16 August 2020, de Jong scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Manchester United in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. On 21 August, he scored twice in a 3–2 win over Inter Milan in the final, whilst being named the man of the match. With his performance in the Europa League, he subsequently was named in the Squad of the Season.
On 28 October 2020, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Rennes in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Barcelona (loan)
On 31 August 2021, de Jong joined Barcelona on a season-long loan until 30 June 2022. On 23 September 2021, he made his debut in a goalless draw against Cadiz, starting and playing 67 minutes before being substituted for Philippe Coutinho. 3 days later, on 26 September 2021 he scored his first goal for the club, assisted by Sergiño Dest, in a 3–0 La Liga victory over Levante.
International career
De Jong received his first call-up for the Netherlands senior team for the friendly against Austria on 9 February 2011 and made his debut in the same match, replacing Dirk Kuyt. He scored his first goal with the national squad on 6 September 2011 in the 2–0 win during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying game against Finland that secured Dutch qualification to the finals. 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 was one of the 23 players chosen to represent the team in the tournament, but he did not make any appearances.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 27 October 2021
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| De Graafschap | 2008–09 | Eredivisie | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | 19 | 3 | ||
| Twente | 2009–10 | Eredivisie | 12 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 7 | |
| 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 32 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 20 | ||
| 2011–12 | Eredivisie | 31 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 32 | ||
| Total | 75 | 39 | 13 | 9 | 29 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 121 | 59 | |||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | — | 31 | 8 | ||
| 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | — | 45 | 8 | ||||
| Newcastle United (loan) | 2013–14 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| PSV | 2014–15 | Eredivisie | 32 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | — | 45 | 26 | ||
| 2015–16 | Eredivisie | 33 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 32 | ||
| 2016–17 | Eredivisie | 32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 9 | ||
| 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 28 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 13 | |||
| 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 34 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 32 | ||
| Total | 159 | 94 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 204 | 112 | |||
| Sevilla | 2019–20 | La Liga | 35 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | — | 46 | 10 | ||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 34 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 9 | ||
| Total | 69 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 94 | 19 | |||
| Barcelona (loan) | 2021–22 | La Liga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Career total | 371 | 152 | 37 | 18 | 85 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 504 | 202 | |||
International
- As of 17 June 2021
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2011 | 6 | 1 |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 3 | |
| Total | 38 | 8 | |
- Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September 2011 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland |  Finland | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 2 | 25 March 2016 | Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands |  France | 1–2 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 3 | 27 May 2016 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland |  Republic of Ireland | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| 4 | 14 November 2017 | Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania |  Romania | 3–0 | 3–0 | |
| 5 | 10 October 2019 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Northern Ireland | 2–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying |
| 6 | 24 March 2021 | Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey |  Turkey | 2–3 | 2–4 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 27 March 2021 | Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Latvia | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| 8 | 30 March 2021 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar |  Gibraltar | 2–0 | 7–0 |
Honours
Twente
- Eredivisie: 2009–10
- KNVB Cup: 2010–11
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2010, 2011
PSV
- Eredivisie: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2015, 2016
Sevilla
- UEFA Europa League: 2019–20
Individual
- Eredivisie Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19
- UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2019–20
- Eredivisie Top Scorer: 2018–19
